Bøger af Lizzie Scott

Fostering? Easy, we would look after children who weren't looked after properly or maybe smacked too hard... No-one prepared us for this nightmare' The scream, when it came, was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was so piercing it made every hair on my body stand on end, and the memory of the terror I felt then, in that instant, has never gone away. I flew out of my bed and ran into the girls' room, convinced that something truly, utterly devastating was happening to one of the children. It was.

The children arrived with a lot of kicking and screaming from the eldest...terrified of the changes going on in his life. One of our jobs as their carers was to minimise change as much as possible until their future was decided by the courts at the final hearing. There was much going on in the background that we were not aware of but would find out in the course of time. Plans were being made by professional people, who should know better and should never take advantage of their position to abuse those who are vulnerable and unable to defend themselves because they are told 'The law is against you', when actually what is meant is that they, in their powerful position are against you. We were slowly and blindly heading toward an adult temper tantrum that neither I nor any of the social workers present at the time, had ever witnessed before. A temper tantrum of such intensity that one person changed the course of these children's lives. It was a truly, truly wicked act of power displayed by one very spiteful egotistical person.

We had learned quite early in our fostering career to bend a few rules...but had never so blatantly broken them until we met Steve, a hard drinking, smoking, insecure man...who was the father of Jake and Sam. Two little boys joined our family when the bitter winter weather was still chilling our bones and their dad was absolutely destitute, no home, no money and no hope of getting his children back with a social worker who seemed to be a bit of a ladies man and favoured their mother. Steve was the second father we had met that would do anything and everything to get his children home...once he had managed to clean himself up and convince the department of Social Services that he would stay off the drink, stay away from women and that he intended to raise his sons in a happy and safe family home. We had to bend a few rules...then break a couple of them in order to help keep this family together...the rewards are immeasurable and, until now, I guess no-one but us and our nearest and dearest (and of course Elizabeth) knew how far we were willing to go to make sure that the right outcome for this placement happened in the end. This placement more than any other we have had, taught me that the determination that one man can have to save his family, against the determination of a department that knows he can't is a powerful thing, and love really can conquer all.

Ok... I'm a foster carer who doesn't want this placement. The department of Social Services know just how to apply pressure... Oh yes... they get one very good, very friendly, very experienced social worker that I happen to have so much respect for, to make the call, knowing, just knowing that I will possibly surrender and agree to share our home with a child that, to be honest, was the last child in the world that I felt capable of caring for... Felt capable of feeling anything for... Felt capable of... anything to do with her. Mmmm, sometimes I'm so bloody shallow you see. I don't want people to look at me as I go about my business. I don't want strangers giving me pitying looks or hurrying past pretending they haven't looked in my pram. I don't want to give up any of the precious time I spend with my birth children and husband. I want my life to stay just as it is. Happy and contented. Oh the lessons I was about to learn.

Explore what is special about each season with this beautiful non-fiction picture book series

Explore what is special about each season with this beautiful non-fiction picture book series

Explore what is special about each season with this beautiful non-fiction picture book series

Explore what is special about each season with this beautiful non-fiction picture book series