“There’s a growing shortage of foster carers, and we felt we could help.”

Two years into their fostering journey with us, the family has already made a lasting difference to the children they’ve cared for. They’re sharing their story in the hope it encourages you to consider opening your home to children who need care.

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For Joanne and McPhil, fostering wasn’t a quick or impulsive decision. It was something they thought about for years, waiting until the timing felt right for their family.

“We considered fostering when our children were younger, but it just wasn’t the right moment,” Joanne says. “Now that they’re older, we have the space and love to offer a young person.”

McPhil says their motivation was simple. “We just wanted to meet a child’s needs,” he says. “There’s a real shortage of foster carers, and we felt we could help.”

With four older birth children, fostering quickly became a whole-family conversation. “We talked it through together,” Joanne explains. “One of our daughters said she’d heard about a family of four going into care and told me, ‘Mum, imagine if that was us. I just couldn’t imagine it.’”

Since joining Barnardo’s in 2023, the couple cared for an eight-year-old girl for 20 months before she was reunited with her birth family, just in time for her 10th birthday.

Today, Joanne and McPhil are fostering two brothers aged five and 12. Joanne reflects on how life changes for children coming into care.

“It’s all so different for the kids, overnight they have new routines, and new people in their life. You can prepare and talk about it, but until that child walks through the door, you don’t really know how it will feel.”

McPhil agrees: “It’s a bit like having a newborn – you’re slowly building attachments and bonds, step by step.”

Creating a safe, loving home is at the heart of everything they do. “We want them to feel secure,” Joanne says, “but we also want them to stay connected with their birth families. Those relationships matter.”

She also speaks about the powerful bond between the brothers in their care:

“Whether it’s big brother encouraging his wee brother to jump the waves at the beach, holding his hand when he’s scared, or watching them playing football together, it’s a joy to see the bond they share.”

Keeping brothers and sisters together can help children feel safer, less isolated and better supported. Yet many siblings are separated when they come into care because there aren’t enough foster carers who can look after them together.

“Keeping siblings together matters because coming into care is traumatic enough without being separated,” Joanne says. “It’s been challenging at times, but both boys are a blessing.”

From ongoing training to round-the-clock support, Joanne and McPhil say they feel part of a wider community of foster carers and professionals, all working together to support children who need it most.

“It takes the whole community,” Joanne emphasises. “We’re thankful for everyone involved.”

The fostering journey isn’t quick, and it can come with challenges. For Joanne, it’s also been deeply rewarding and has brought their family closer together.

“Stick together through thick and thin,” she advises anyone thinking about fostering. “It can turn your life upside down, but togetherness makes it work.”

McPhil adds: “Always remember why you’re doing it, you are giving a child a home.”

If Joanne and McPhil’s story has made you wonder whether fostering could be right for you, you might be more ready than you think. 

You don’t need to have had experience of raising four children like Joanne and McPhil! If you think you could give a child, the stability and care they deserve you have the potential to be a foster carer.