Family is so important to me. I look after my daughter who is 7 and my brother who is 8. It’s not easy at times but most of the time it’s alright. It’s good with the two of them being near the one age. They are the same year in school and at the same level so it makes things easier.
My brother first went to live with my aunt and uncle. But I knew I wanted to care for him. I went to Social Services and said to them I wanted to put myself forward to care for my brother. Social Services got the ball rolling. It took a while because I had lots of things to sort out. Eventually I got there and my brother has been living with me for nearly 2 years. I couldn’t imagine life without my brother living with us. It’s like he has always been here.
My brother and my daughter love Kinship Care. Both of them have grown in confidence and met lots of other children in the same position. My brother loves the MiniKins Group on a Thursday and my daughter enjoys arts and crafts, storytime and ‘Fun Fridays’. They go on lots of trips and I get to go with them. I’ve met other kinship carers who are doing what I’m doing. I go to the support group every month and on training courses. This year I have applied to do a Degree in Social Work at the University of Ulster and I think being a kinship carer will help with that a lot. I’m glad I got in touch with Kinship Care when I did.