Milestones and Moments: 25 Years of Fostering
Helen, a dedicated foster parent from FCA South East, reflects on 25 incredible years of fostering in her latest blog post. Over the years, her passion for making a difference in the lives of children has never wavered.
To mark this milestone, Helen shares how she embraced 25 random acts of kindness each month, from buying meals for strangers to delivering cakes, flowers, or simply sharing a smile and the powerful ripple effect of these small gestures.
“The last time we put pen to paper seems like yesterday but was in fact five years ago whilst celebrating 20 years of fostering! Where has that time gone? Coronavirus is now just something we live with, changing world politics, the increasing use of AI, the pressures of social media and an ever-increasing worry about the mental health of those in the world.”
Passion That Never Wavers
“However, one thing that hasn’t changed is our passion and determination to change lives for the better; the creative ways we have to think, to help the children in our care to achieve to the best of their ability, looking at new ways to protect them in our ever changing world and most importantly ensuring we give each and every child a voice so they can be heard.”
“The large world around us continues to race, with the pace at times not allowing any of us to stop and think about the bigger picture. Just for a moment why not stop?! Close your eyes and listen to your breathing; listen to what is going on around you, what can you hear? And as importantly, how does it make you feel?”
“Our thoughts, feelings and actions are what help us to make a difference, to change someone’s day for the better, to change the lives of each child that comes into our care and something we do instinctively, without ever stopping and without thinking.”
25 Random Acts of Kindness
“So, in 2025 we changed the way we were thinking slightly and decided to see how we could change even more lives for the better. Each month for the whole year, leading to our 25th anniversary of fostering, we chose to do 25 random acts of kindness, in the hope of making others stop and smile, to allow them to feel someone else cares and to hopefully make a difference.”
“Throughout this journey of discovery, we have bought meals in a restaurant. Two that spring to mind was to buy a meal for “two friends” who were celebrating a 96th birthday. They couldn’t understand why someone they didn’t know wanted to be kind, but since this time we have inspired the elderly lady to do a kind thing daily for someone else and we now talk regularly. The second time was during my son’s wedding reception, when we gave two families in the restaurant a voucher to have a “drink on us”. Again, they couldn’t understand why they were chosen…but it was simply at random. No reason, except to say stop and think about others”.
“We have paid for shopping for people in the queue. During the Christmas period a kind gentleman allowed me to jump the queue with the few items I had, so I stopped to chat, followed by paying for his shopping. Sometimes, I feel things happen for a reason, and this gentleman told me he was 92 years of age, but that he wasn’t with his family this year for Christmas because they were too far away. I asked where they were and ironically, they lived two hours away but two streets away from my own family in Somerset. What a small world!! The man told me, “You have made my day!” Equally as important, it made others around us smile, with another customer then doing the same for someone else in the queue, another simple act of random kindness”.
“We have baked cakes and cookies, delivering to friends who have helped us through the years, as well as those who haven’t known us, made hampers of chocolate treats for teachers in our local schools and places that our looked after children have had fun at, made and delivered cream teas, one of which was to the caretaker at our school who had been verbally abused by a parent merely for doing his job. If only that person had stopped and thought about how she made him feel that day, and how it potentially affected his mental health.”
“We have walked dogs and looked after children for friends who have needed help, delivered bunches of flowers, paid for haircuts, delivered the odd bottle or two of alcohol, posted postcards telling someone how awesome they are, bought coffees and cakes in a coffee shop. The list can go on and on, but throughout, the aim was to be random and to make a difference to someone’s day. To hopefully make them smile and to realise someone cares, for them to then walk away feeling good and to tell others what had occurred during their day. Again, to keep conversations alive, instead of burying their head in a phone or scrolling through social media in the hope of changing mental health.”
Fostering Lessons in Kindness and Care
“Fostering has allowed us to think in this way too; to want to make a difference no matter how big or small, to allow a child to feel they are valued by the things we do and say, to allow them to show us what they are thinking and to give them the life skills and tools to change their lives for the better. To allow them to smile once more and to allow them to go on and achieve whatever it is they want to do and to realise that even when life is tough and random things happen, we can tackle things together.”
“Through this they will grow in confidence and resilience and feel empowered to make change to their own lives, to learn to be able to speak out so they are not only heard but listened too and to enjoy and achieve in life. All of this won’t change overnight, but with time and random acts of kindness, we can and do make a difference to the lives of others.”
“So, if you do nothing else today, just do one thing for yourself: Stop! Close your eyes and listen to what is going on around you and embrace the sounds and smells. Then do something random, even a simple smile can change someone’s day, then why not let someone else know what you did and see how much change we can make together”.
Join Helen in making a difference
Foster parents up and down the UK are making a difference to children’s lives every day. There’s a real need for more foster parents right now. If you’d love to learn more about fostering, contact our team today.
