Skye, now 25, went to live with Team Fostering foster carer Patsy at the age of 10. She stayed there until she left for University at 18 and now lives in her own flat, working as a nurse in a critical care trauma unit.

The small things which make a big difference

“I remember that first night”, she smiles. “It sounds silly because it sounds so small but she gave me the space I needed. I just sat in my bedroom. But then she came up and she’d made me a strawberry milkshake.

“I just immediately felt like I was part of the family”, Skye admits.  “We kind of went through everything together. We grew up together.”

Being a part of the Team Fostering family

Skye also looks back fondly on her time with other people from the Team Fostering family, experiencing activities, holidays and parties.

“It was really nice,” she said.  “I’ve always hidden my past from people so it was nice to be in an environment where everyone’s the same and you don’t feel different.”

Dreaming for the future

As Skye grew up, Patsy was there to support her future dreams every step of the way.

She says: “She told me I could do anything I want to do. There was never any doubt I was going to go to Uni or do A levels. It was just a really positive environment.”

In the way many teenagers will relate to, settling on a career path took a bit of back and forth.

“Patsy laughed at me once because I wanted to be a dolphin instructor”, Skye remembers fondly. “I don’t even really know how I became a nurse, it kind of just happened. But Patsy was there with me on every results day, through all the stress.

“If I’d stayed at home there’s no way I’d be where I am now,” she adds.

Building skills for independent living

Skye explains how Patsy also gave her the tools she needed to live independently.

“She talked me through money and budgeting, she taught me how to cook, how to do my washing.

“Don’t get me wrong I still phone Patsy up every five minutes when the washing machine breaks”, she laughs, “but she prepared me for it.”

Enjoying a bright future

Now Skye is settled in a career which she loves.

“It’s genuinely something different every day,” she says. “Critical care is a bit more science based and I had to go back to Uni to do an extra module to be a critical care nurse which I really liked.”

And what would she say to Patsy?

“I think I would just say thank you to Team Fostering and to Patsy for always making me feel part of the family and making it a homely environment.

“Thank you for pushing me to do things because I wouldn’t be where I am if she hadn’t done that.”

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