Three Children And A Rabbit: The BFANI Story

Barnardo's Fostering & Adoption NI · 2025-02-04

In this our 45th anniversary year, we uncover BFANI's origins story and meet the person who is responsible for getting us started.

Lynda Wilson's journey from a senior social worker in 1978 to the founder of Barnardo's Fostering in Northern Ireland is a testament to her passion and innovation in child welfare. A dissatisfaction with the existing system, and a poignant story of a young boy looking for a suitable home, sparked the first professional foster care project in the region, Barnardo's Fostering NI. Lynda reflects back on her career, the families, the children...and the rabbit...who found their way to her office.

Helen Browne, the head of Barnardo's Fostering and Adoption NI today joins us to shed light on the current challenges and hopes in Northern Ireland's fostering landscape. We discuss how fee-paying fostering has evolved from a novel concept to a crucial support mechanism. And we explore the unprecedented need for foster carers and the challenges we face in our ongoing quest to support children and young people.

Learn more about fostering and adoption with Barnardo’s:
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/get-support/fostering-and-adoption

To learn more about fostering and adoption in NI, visit our Linktr.ee:
https://linktr.ee/barnardosfosteringni

To ask a question, give us some feedback or make a topic request, email us at:
[email protected]

Foster belonging with us!

Barnardo's Fostering & Adoption NI

Interested in fostering or adoption? Not sure where to start?

Meet Barnardo's Fostering & Adoption here in NI. Your guide is Ness who looks after recruitment and is not a social worker.

Let Ness introduce you to the wider team, to foster carers and adopters who are willing to share their experiences and give you (and Ness) insights into the world of fostering and adoption. What is it really like? What is 'Panel'? What kind of training can you expect? What sort of support will you get? Will you be able to work and foster? What is the difference between fostering and adoption?

This is the place to find answers to these questions and more. Over the coming months, we will be talking through the application process, the kinds of professional training and support you can expect and the different types of fostering, including fostering to adoption and parent and child placements. We will speak with those who've walked the walk (and can talk the talk) from both our NI service and those across the UK.

Barnardo's needs more families, couples and single carers, from all walks of life, whether they are considering fostering and/or adoption, to ensure that when children need a loving family, the right one is there for them. Could it be you?

Learn about Fostering & Adoption with Barnardo's here: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/get-support/fostering-and-adoption

To learn more about Fostering and Adoption with us in Northern Ireland, visit our Linktr.ee here: https://linktr.ee/barnardosfosteringni

To ask a question, give us some feedback or make a topic request, contact us at [email protected].

Together, we can change lives. #fosterbelongingwithus

Image credit: main: Janine Boyd Photography, banner: Katherine Hanlon, Unsplash

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