Eithne - Mockingbird Hub carer
Eithne Bhui (right in picture) is the Hub Carer for Hounslow’s burgeoning Mockingbird constellation. As we begin Foster Care Fortnight, she explains how Hounslow’s eight family unit is built on and will continue to flourish through the theme of this year’s celebration: The Power of Relationships.
I’m a hub carer for Hounslow’s Mockingbird constellation, launched earlier this year. It’s built around the maxim; it takes a village to raise a child.
Often, children in care are not allowed to have sleepovers for instance, so the eight families in my constellation can come together in my home and we get to do activities, enjoy social events like coffee mornings and meet to go out to the local park with the children so they can start to get to know each other.
The children don’t have the opportunity to go to their relations, so I gladly take the role of being an auntie! We love doing simple things like artwork in the house, they can play netball in the garden and friendships are forming between them. They’re now requesting to have sleepovers with one another which is lovely.
The first time they all met there was a natural wariness amongst the children but that very soon evaporated as they made friendship bracelets together. They also began to feel comfortable in my house and it’s becoming a home from home.
I hope there will be more constellations – I can only take the eight families we currently have on board! – but hopefully new ones will be developed, and more children will go on and experience the joy our group gets from the simple process of making friends.
It’s also very important for the foster carers themselves, just getting together, talking, and sharing best practise is very beneficial. We support each other and are beginning to feel like one big happy family, which is amazing.
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