in my experience
‘I’VE FOSTERED MORE THAN 200 CHILDREN’
Author Maggie Hartley has written 24 books about her experiences as a foster carer. She has one grown-up biological son.
I’ve always loved working with children. My passion for it started when I was 16 and volunteered at a holiday playscheme for children with disabilities, many of whom had autism. One day, I saw a young boy who was sobbing and distressed. He didn’t speak English, but I watched, amazed, as another volunteer calmed him down just with her expressions, gestures and touch. It had a pivotal effect on me – I knew then that I wanted a career that helped children.
In my early 20s, I began working at a residential care home, before becoming a house mother at a school for children with behavioural and emotional issues, where I looked after eight children, day and night. It was this role that led me to become a foster carer. I had the right experience and I wanted to support the children that other people had perhaps given up on.
