There’s no better feeling than doing a job where you really make a difference and on s1jobs you can find organisations actively seeking people who have the ability to transform lives.
To join them you don’t need a degree or a track record of doing anything similar.
As long as you’re over 21 you can be considered for what is arguably the most important job of all – providing a safe and happy home for children.
Anyone with an ounce of compassion will feel sympathy for children who, for whatever reason, are unable to live with their parents, but it takes a special kind of person to welcome those children into their own homes.
Yet many people do take this step and embark on the challenging, but hugely rewarding journey of becoming a foster carer.
Helen Anderson from Glasgow became a foster carer more than a decade ago and in that time she has cared for more than 20 children. She frequently opens her home and her heart to very young children and says nothing gives her greater satisfaction than seeing them return to their own parents or find a new home with adoptive parents.
“It is always hard to say goodbye, but I keep in touch with many of them and just love to see them thriving,” she says.
Caroline Watson, who spent five years working for a fostering organisation, says that foster parents come in all guises and some of the best have structures in place that help them to care for a certain kind of young person.
“One of our most successful carers was wonderful with teenage boys, many of whom had spent a long time in care and had challenging behaviours. She was kind and caring and her no-nonsense approach gave these young men the boundaries that had been lacking in their lives.
“As a result they were able to fulfil their potential and turn into well-adjusted and positive adults.”
Fostering is managed by local authorities, children’s charities and other specialist organisations and all of them offer support for people thinking of becoming carers. They are happy to talk with anyone who is considering taking the first step and will set out the path towards helping children in need of a warm and secure home environment for just a few days or weeks or for the rest of their childhood.
If you think this could be a role for you, or you’d like to explore other opportunities in social care, take a look at the current vacancies on s1jobs.com