UPDATE: Louise now only requires £3000 to help with the project as the council have now agreed the majority 😃 but there is a shortfall of £3000 which Louise needs to raise as the quotes for the necessary work have come in above the allowed budget. Please read Louise’s story below:

Louise is a single foster carer who has already done a fantastic job of raising her own two children as a single parent, one of whom still lives with her.

She is now long term foster mother to two more children. The youngest child, who we shall call ‘James’, has severe global delay and is emotionally much closer to 5 than his real age of 9, he presents as a charming young man, with so much character and humour, but he does however have very complex needs which can be hard to manage, but he has built up a trusting relationship with Louise, who helps him daily with each and every need. He requires prompts for most things he does, and needs constant reminders for daily routine things and Louise describes her household as being like ‘Groundhog day’.

The eldest ‘Rose’ has a reading age of just under 7, although she has very recently turned 10. She has attachment issues, and can be very insecure, but again, she has formed a great relationship with Louise and these issues are becoming less and less obvious as the days go by.

Unfortunately, Rose turning 10 has caused a problem. Social services say that as Rose is now 10, she can no longer share a bedroom with her brother. Louise has had the children for the best part of 3 years now, and when she was offered the children long term almost 2 years ago planned with the local authority, who she rents her home from, to extend her home into the loft, building an extra bedroom. They recently have changed their minds and are now refusing to fund this.

The children are described as friendly, loving, kind and funny and have flourished under Louise’s nurturing care. Louise is now very worried for their emotional well-being should they be removed, as they have built such a strong bond as a family. They are no longer looked at or considered as ‘Foster Children’ throughout Louise’s family, but as family members.

The children were told that this would be there forever home, and often tell people that they are with Louise forever. If the children were asked, they would most definitely say they would rather continue to share a bedroom then to move into someone else’s care. It has also been raised by Louise that their emotional age, and the age that they present at, is a long way from their chronological age, but this seems to have no baring.

Both the children’s schools have described the progress that the children have made as 'phenomenal' since being in Louise's care and would not recommend a move, and they thoroughly support Louise’s efforts to try and keep them together in their current home. They would quite possibly be unable, at the rate that they are now, to continue to improve and would most likely regress if removed from their loving home.

Louise has emailed and contacted a lot of ‘influential’ people, most recently her local MP, and is trying everything she can to stop this move from happening. It appears that the children can continue to temporarily stay with Louise and share a bedroom even though ‘Rose’ is now 10, due to the difficulty of finding long term care for the 2 siblings, so it seems the ‘policy’ is flexible when it is convenient to the local authority!

Please help, please do not let these children become another statistic, don’t let the local authority dictate what is best for these children by allowing them to put funding before these children’s needs, best interests and their wishes.

We are aiming to raise enough money to pay for the loft extension that is necessary in order to keep this family together.

Let Louise’s home be their forever home.

If you are unable to donate, then please would you be kind enough to share.

All donations can be refunded, split between the 2 children’s savings accounts to help their future, or it will be given to children’s charities should this plea not reach the required funds to help ‘Rose’ and ‘James’

Many Thanks in advance.

Evidence came out in the news in the today (1st May 2018) about the damage that children in care are incurring due to countless reckless and needless moves, please click the link to read more:

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/education-44289645