You would be amazed how thrilled the children are when they receive a card in the post. It’s one of the simplest thing we do and yet it has a major impact. One of our older teenagers came and showed me 3 of the cards we had sent her, over the years. She told me that she carries them with her, all the time and she said that the others are all safely at home! It made me realise again how important it is to remember their birthdays.
The children have a great summer holiday but of course, come September they must return to school. This can be a very expensive time for the foster parents because each child must be dressed very smart for their new term. This can mean a lot of new clothes all at the same time, so we try to help the largest families with this necessary expense. It’s important that the children look their best, just like all their friends.
Moving into a family can be quite daunting at first and with very few possessions it means that everything is new to the child. We try to ease the process and help with the expense by preparing a special pack that includes: PJ’s; a personalized mug; a wash kit; a toy; and some slippers. This may be the first time that the children will have received items that are personal for them.
Our heart has always been to build some homes for future families. There are still many children living in Orphanages and they all deserve the opportunity to live in a loving family home. Some of these children would have additional psychological needs, due to the traumas that they have suffered and so it would be good for the families to be near to each other, because they can then benefit from their mutual support and encouragement.
We have a good location with a beautiful lake not too far away and we are really concerned that more of the families can have a holiday, so we would like to build some cottages as great place to rest. In the past, some of the children have had the opportunity to visit Italy for a holiday but with international travel restrictions in place, this is not an option at the moment and so the need is even greater.
At the back of our land we would like to develop a ‘Wild West’ street of Cabins for our teenagers. It will be a fun place for camping in the summer months. Young people love to have adventure and a place that is different. The accommodation will be basic but much better than tents!
This is a great course that will help to develop our teenagers in five areas of their life: Social; Emotional; Physical; Spiritual; and Intellectual. There are immense pressures on young people and we want to do more to help them make good choices and be strong in their understanding of life and responsibilities.