A woman who grew up in foster care before becoming a foster parent has welcomed the arrival of a new digital platform that will change the way children are introduced to their new foster family.
Foster Wales has launched a new way to allow a young person to view their profile before meeting a foster carer. The Big Welcome platform gives children the opportunity to visit a new foster carer early on, giving them the chance to get to know the personality and home life of their new carer and any family members or pets they will be sharing a home with.
This Children of Foster Carers Week (13 October to 19 October), Foster Wales is celebrating how digital platforms have helped children feel welcome in a new home. Since its pilot in 2024, almost 600 foster carers in Wales have registered on the Big Welcome portal.
Amy Davis first went into foster care at the age of 11, before living with her maternal grandmother at the age of 16. Amy then began her journey as a foster carer by looking after her young sister as a kinship carer aged just 21. She has now been caring primarily for the older children with her husband, Gavin, of 23 years.
As an adult with care experience, Amy said it was important that the children in her care felt as loved as her own children, aged 16, 8 and five weeks, and were given the space to adjust to a different family life.
“It’s important that they feel like they matter, that they have people who are on their side,” Amy said.
“We do everything for them that we do for our own children. You have to sometimes go back to basics with them and almost teach them how to love.”
Amy and Gavin have generally raised the teenagers and have taken care to welcome them into the home in a sensitive manner. The couple has a lot of pets including a dog, two cats, two chickens, a pond with coy carp, a turtle and a ball python.
Amy said the Big Welcome will help children feel more comfortable before meeting a caregiver and a new foster sibling.
“When I was younger and going into foster care, I think I felt less anxious if I could see who I was going to meet. I was usually quite worried about who they were or what they were like, but seeing the profile helps take away a little of the fear of the unknown.”
Developed in partnership between the charity Action for Children and social innovation agency Super Being Labs, Big Welcome was designed through a series of workshops and 1:1 interviews with 120 care experienced young people and over 75 foster carers. The research asked how a foster carer might welcome a child and what made a young person feel anxious. The designers addressed the needs identified, including ensuring that a child could see what his or her bedroom would look like. This gives children a chance to begin to form relationships that can be life-changing.
M Hattersley spent time in foster care as a teenager, experiencing a period of homelessness from the age of 13. Now aged 29, she works for Cardiff University on the Confident Futures Project supporting young care experienced people like herself.
“I think the Big Welcome platform is fantastic,” said M. “That would have helped me a lot.
“When I was going through my experience with foster care I was given very little information about the people I was supposed to be with and that was really hard to digest.
“But the big welcome builds confidence. Their whole world has already been turned upside down and just being able to see their new room will help with that anxiety. I’m seven now and I know the importance of visual storytelling for young children.”
Head of Foster Wales, Alistair Cope, said: “As the national network for promoting not-for-profit local authority services, Foster Wales is committed to creating better futures for children and young people in need of care.
“Our kids told us they wanted more information about where they would live. They wanted to know what their bedroom would look like, who the family pet is and what the foster carers like to do in their free time.
“We’ve already heard from our social workers what a difference it’s making. Big Welcome is providing the reassurance and connection needed to get a relationship off to the best possible start.”