In their words

Case study

When eight year old Mark was born his mum was struggling to look after three children. Her partner was violent toward her and the children. When Mark was five years old he and his sisters were found locked in a room with only dirty blankets on the floor.

They had been eating coffee granules mixed with sugar because there was nothing else. Mark had been neglected and physically abused. He was confused, locked in his own world and could not concentrate on anything for very long. He trusted no one. For three years he worked his way through 10 different foster homes. His behaviour was bizarre and uncontrolled and his social workers were at a loss to know how to help him.

His social worker contacted Barnardo's New Families project and, despite the obvious difficulties Mark was going to present, one of our bridge foster families was not phased by the challenge, and we worked together to provide intensive support to Mark including breaks for his foster family. We got his attention and gained his trust. We worked alongside his social worker to plan for him, and Mark is now in a family where he can feel safe and where he can keep in contact with his sisters, helping him make sense of his past.