What a day looks like for foster carers Colin and Marie

Having run a church youth group for over 20 years, Colin and Marie have always been passionate about supporting young people.

So, when they saw an advert for fostering opportunities in a church magazine, it felt like fate.

Colin tells us: "That was it. We decided to give it a try, and here we are 14-years later."

Colin and Marie are currently fostering a 14-year-old and nine-year-old.

For them, an average day starts at 7:30am. Once everyone is up and ready, they have breakfast as a family before the school run.

Making time to talk with the children and young people in their care is important to the couple.

Helping the children with their schoolwork is a key part of Colin and Marie’s day, particularly as one child needs additional support with their studies.

Marie tells us: "When he first came to us, he found school extremely difficult."

Once a month, the couple take part in Action for Children's training so that they can continue to build their skills, and talk through any support they may need.

Colin said: "The formal side of fostering, such as training and assessments, isn't a big part of the day-to-day life."

They both find the face-to-face training very beneficial.

At 5:30pm, the family sit down together and use the time to talk about their days, and weekend plans.