york fostering
People assume that one has to be in quite a specific demographic to be allowed to foster children. I took these street portraits on behalf of the City of York’s fostering service to show that people from all backgrounds can help change a child’s life. Georgina fostered a child with special needs when she was just 26 years old. She told me that some people thought that she and her husband were too young to take on such a responsibility, but to Georgina, who had always wanted to foster, it felt 'just right'. Fostering has had a very positive and life-changing effect on Georgina. She loves her new life and said that before, she and her husband were just a couple with a dog and that fostering a child has made them a family.
It was tricky taking shots inside Georgina’s house because it was quite small, so I photographed her on the school run instead (the scooter belongs to her child). She told me that she dreams of getting a larger house one day so that if ‘God forbid’ one of her parents or in-laws ever needed caring for, she will have space for them to move in with her. It was obvious to me that Georgina was a genuinely caring and generous woman. She was clearly the very best sort of person to take up fostering. When I was 26, I could barely iron a shirt, so meeting Georgina who at such a young age, has changed a child’s life for the better, was a humbling experience for me. Before posting this I sent the words to Georgina to check that she was happy with them. She told me that she and her family have just been offered a bigger house. She’s hoping to move as soon as the lockdown has ended, and said that it’s something for her family to really look forward too.
Chez and her daughter Rochelle. Chez once read an article in a magazine about fostering, which made her think that perhaps it would be something that she and her husband could do one day. She then went on to have three birth children but still had a spare bedroom and ‘a bit of energy left’ so decided to foster. Her family has now increased by five with two adoptions and three long term foster kids. She told me that over the years she has met some lovely people through fostering and that she still keeps in touch with the kids that have move on. Initially, Chez was concerned that fostering would upset her birth children. In fact, it had a very positive effect on them. So much so that Rochelle has become a full-time foster carer herself. As you can imagine, Chez is immensely proud of her daughter.
