Celebrating this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert

This year’s festive advert captures the essence of what it means to be a foster carer in the run up to your foster child arriving at your home for the first time. Whether you’re fostering for the first time like #thebeginner; a first time foster dad and novice skateboarder, or if you’re a more experienced foster carer, you will know that the days and weeks before your foster child’s arrival are filled with anticipation, excitement and a hope that you will do a great job for that young person.

At FCA Scotland we’re hoping that the beautifully crafted advert encourages more people throughout the country to consider fostering. If fostering is something that you’ve considered, but you’re keen to know more about, take a look at our information on the fostering process.

The first stages of fostering can feel a little bit overwhelming - you might not be sure if it’s for you and there is certainly a lot to learn. We hope that our guide to fostering helps to clarify the fostering process for prospective foster parents as it explores:

• The foster care application process
• How long the process takes from initial interest to receiving your first child
• Working the process around your work and family
• Preparing your family to foster ahead of your first placement
• When it’s the right time to foster
• Making your first enquiry

When you decide to become a foster parent with FCA Scotland, you are deciding to positively change children and young people’s lives throughout the country for the better. Children can need extra support for lots of different reasons from illness in the family, to family bereavements and break down. Whatever the circumstances, it can be very difficult for children to leave their birth families, which is why kind, patient and dedicated foster families are so vital to children who need support. If this year’s John Lewis advert has made you consider fostering for the first time, or has reignited an old spark, we would love you to get in touch with our team, who will be able to talk you through every step of the process.

The foster child in the advert, Ellie, represents one of 108,000 children who will be spending this Christmas in care and that number is only set to rise. So, from all of us at FCA Scotland, we would like to thank John Lewis for shining a light on foster care throughout the UK. Congratulations on delivering such an important message so well.