Meet Ann Marie, a retired nurse from Kilkenny and proud foster mother of young girl

There are currently over 6,000 children in care in Ireland and this figure is growing every day.

Unfortunately, a lot of children in Ireland cannot live with their own family, either on a short-term or long-term basis for various reasons and are therefore brought into State care.

This could be because of illness in the family, the death of a parent, neglect, abuse or violence in the home, or sometimes it can be because the parent or family is not coping and they need respite or long-term help. Foster families are often the safety net for children in those situations; people like Kilkenny's Ann Marie Young and her husband James.

Ahead of Fostering Awareness Week, the Kilkenny People spoke to a couple from Kilkenny who are the proud foster parents of an 11-year-old girl for the past three years.

Ann Marie from Kilkenny is a retired nurse who wanted something to help fulfil her life and "put her mind to" since she wasn't caring for people at work any longer.

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"So we looked into foster care myself and my husband and the two of us kind of had it in the back of our minds for quite a while," Ann Marie said.

The Kilkenny couple did have kids of their own but they are now adults and no longer living in the family home.

Ann Marie started her journey with Fostering First Ireland (FFI) who she said has been "absolutely amazing" in helping her and her husband foster a child.

The foster mother said that this experience has changed her life "for the better" and said "it's absolutely perfect"

"We have a girl. She's 11 years of age. I'm fostering her nearly three years now and she just kind of melts into the family.

"We just got on brilliant. She's just an absolutely amazing little girl and with the support of FFI, they were absolutely amazing".

Ann Marie said that with FFI There's always someone there you can contact 24-7 if there's any little mishap or if you've got any questions and they prepare you very well before you even take on a child as well.

"Their whole system for getting you ready to accept a child is just amazing. They just cover every aspect of it".

Ann Marie said that her experience as a nurse has made it a lot easier as well to care for a child.

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"I've seen a lot through the years but to be quite honest, the whole family were well-equipped and well-ready to accept a new child to the family. She's been an absolute dream now since she came to us, an absolute dream.

The woman said that the experience has opened her and her family up to a lot of things. It also opened up her kids' eyes to other family situations and the fact that other families are not as fortunate.

She said that her kids were very welcoming to their new foster sibling and "brought her in like she's their own".

Ann Marie said that her and her family "saw another side to life" after taking in the young girl who came from a bad background in County Dublin. 

"It was a massive growth curve for all of us and it brought a lot of love to all of us. The whole experience has just been amazing, absolutely amazing".

The little girl that Ann Marie and her family are fostering is now in fifth class in Kilkenny and is thriving in her new found life.

"She's just absolutely thrived since she came to us now. She's just loving life and doing activities she never would have got a chance to do and made fabulous friends. We're absolutely blessed with the school.

The young girl came from Dublin and was living in a "very bad situation situation" that involved drugs before she came to live with the Kilkenny family.

The young girl's situation is not rare, with over 6,000 children in need of care, which is why fostering is so important and can change the lives of many children across the country.

Ann Marie advised anyone thinking about fostering to "even just reach if you'd like to do it or are a bit nervous, about even starting the process.

"FFI are just so helpful and their team are just amazing to support you and your family and just show you every aspect in what's going to happen and what's going on. 

"They're covering the good and the bad sides of fostering and they just make you aware of everything and have the support to go with it.

"You're never on your own, which is absolutely the forefront of FFI. You always have a support network. That is a major help if anyone had any nervous intuition about it or anything like that. I have to say 100% I couldn't recommend them any more".

If you are interested in fostering a child, you can send an enquiry to www.fosteringfirstireland.ie or call Fostering Advisor Jess directly on 087 9394697.

You can also attend one of their fortnightly information sessions which are held online with fostering advisors and experienced foster carers.

Fostering First Ireland's criteria to be able to foster a child is as follows: 

- You need to be over the age of twenty-five, there is no upper age with fostering you just need to be in good health and have a reliable support network around you.
- You should have a spare bedroom available, foster children can not share with your own children.
- If you have children, your youngest should be at least 3 years old. You do not need children to foster.
- You should have your full driving licence, there are a lot of appointments that come up for children in care so it is important that you can travel to and from them.

"Fostering is the most amazing rewarding journey you will ever experience, one piece of advice that our foster carers would always give is to just get going and try not to think too much about making that call. You are always supported by professionals and never alone once you get started you will not look back," Fostering First Ireland said.