With the number of children needing safe and secure foster homes increasing during the pandemic, foster carers, Nic and Chris Kimmance, from Ashford in Kent, are hoping that their story will encourage more people across London and the South East to consider fostering
Nic and Chris Kimmance have been married for sixteen years they have two daughters, Lucy and Maddy and as a family decided to become foster carers with the charity Diagrama.
Nic Kimmance, said, “Our decision to become foster parents was years in the making. When we got married, we knew we wanted a family, but it was not happening for us, so we looked at fostering and adoption. Then I fell pregnant not once but twice and we had two beautiful girls. The idea of fostering went on to the back burner for many years, until I raised the idea with Chris again last year. Once we had agreed to explore fostering, we started to talk with our daughters about what it might mean for our family and how they felt about the possibility of sharing their home with other children. The girls were very positive about the idea so together we moved forward. We were accepted on to the Diagrama fostering programme and after comprehensive training and endless support, our first foster child was placed with us last year.”
Chris Kimmance, continued, “We chose to foster so that we could make a difference. Inviting another child into your home and allowing them to find some stability, come alive and begin to really thrive is the best family decision we have made, and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.”
Nic Kimmance, continued, “Diagrama run fostering information events online so if you are considering fostering or would just like to find out more about this rewarding career do sign up – what have you got to lose?”
Margaret Gardiner, Fostering and Adoption Team Manager, Diagrama, said “One of the side effects of the pandemic is that Diagrama is receiving more referrals than ever for children needing safe and secure placements. We need to increase the number of children we can support and are looking to train new foster carers across London and the south east to help with this demand. If you are interested in finding out if fostering might be the right career choice for you, please do contact us or sign up for an online information event.”
Diagrama offer full support to successful candidates to prepare them for the fostering journey. To book a place on an online fostering information event visit:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fostering-information-evenings-tickets-127705559767?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch
