My name is Neil, and in August 2023 I first heard about the Independent Visitors scheme on Radio 4. The piece mentioned that there was a shortage - I was interested in the role and I did some research into it.
When I sat down to breakfast with my wife and daughter, I described the role and asked if they felt if I could do it justice. They gave me a uniform yes, and I think they were also secretly happy I had found something I wanted to do beyond hanging out with the dog after my recent retirement!
Application Process
The application process was painless and took about 3 months all in all. It involved a couple of meetings with a Support Worker, where we discussed my family and work life, and my reasons for applying. There was nothing too intrusive and it quite relaxed. Of course, there were also the mandatory forms and checks that had be filled in and undertaken.
Once I had finished the interview process, I was quickly matched with my young person and went to a joint meeting at their home with my dedicated Support Worker. It was a great way to be introduced to the young person and their foster family.
For our first session we went for a long walk with my family dog. I did most of the talking with lots of long silences from them, which is understandable. As we did more visits, the silences between us got shorter and shorter – at our most recent visit my young person started talking as soon as I picked them up!
One Year On...
I have only been participating in the scheme for a year and so far, we’ve done so many activities: visiting a National Trust estate, a retro computer game museum, a virtual reality experience, a rugby match and a regimental army museum.
This broad range of experiences has let me and my young person to get to know each other quite well, an experience I’ve really enjoyed. I was worried that we wouldn’t click but I needn’t have; we chat about what most children their age talk about: YouTube, Minecraft and cars.
When you spend time with a young person, you can easily find common ground. When I found out that my young person was going on their first foreign holiday, we went to East Midlands Airport to watch the planes take off. We then ended up chatting for an hour about how planes work - thank goodness for YouTube is all I can say!
My last outing has been the best so far, the whole day was just answering their questions and by the end of the day they had come up with at least 4 activities that they wanted to do, which I see as real progress. I see the role of Independent Visitor as a source of stability for the young person and someone that they can rely on that is not directly involved in their care. For myself, I have found it incredibly rewarding, interesting and reassuring that you can teach an old dog new tricks (via YouTube tutorials).
I would wholeheartedly recommend the Independent Visitor role to others.
If you would like to learn more about the Independent Visitor scheme, you can contact the Fostering Team by emailing fostering@leics.gov.uk or calling 0116 305 0505.