Fostering story - Ragveer Mattu and Sapphire

Ragveer Mattu and Sapphire are a co-habiting couple from Hounslow who have recently started fostering. They have two young sons and are fostering eight-week old twin babies.

When both her children had reached school age, Sapphire was looking for a new challenge, which would make use of her parenting skills and fit in with her existing family commitments.

She said: “I think fostering is a good opportunity for women who have been in the home and suddenly have more time on their hands. Fostering has been great for me because I love children, but the meetings with social workers and so on, have also given me a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities.”

Both Ragveer and Sapphire worried about fostering – would it be hard to let go when the children moved on? How would they cope with children with disabilities or from difficult backgrounds?

“The training from Hammersmith & Fulham Council was really very interesting and put a lot of our fears at rest,” said Ragveer, “when we fist considered fostering, Sapphire was the one pushing for it, but as I began to learn more, I realised what a worthwhile and fascinating experience it can be. I would really encourage more men to take an active role in fostering – it has brought me closer to my own children and given me the chance to enjoy family life.”

Ragveer and Sapphire’s 12 and seven year old sons love having the twin babies at home and their mother believes it means she spends more quality time with them.

She said, “The babies have brought real joy into our house and although its taken some time to reach this point, I would definitely recommend giving fostering a go.”