Barnardo's Fostering and Adoption NI, aka BFANI, is marking its 45th anniversary this year and so we decided to uncover BFANI's origins story and meet the person who is responsible for getting it all started in NI. 

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 arrange a no-strings call visit
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/foster/register-to-foster

To ask a question, give us some feedback or make a topic request, email Ness at: vanessa.haynes@barnardos.org.uk

Changing childhoods, changing lives.