'Our door is always open': Couple share experiences from forty years of fostering
Over the past 40 years, Lorina and Dervin have looked after more than 280 children. We find out what’s kept them fostering and why they’ve no plans to stop any time soon.
‘When I haven’t got a foster child, to tell you the truth, I’m sad’, Croydon based foster carer, Lorina, says. She’s been fostering alongside her husband, Dervin, for almost 40 years, and one of their main priorities in life, has always been to fill their home with joy and love.
Caring has always been in Lorina and Dervin’s nature. Lorina is a retired nurse and before they became foster carers the couple were known for helping children in their community who were going through difficult times. They also have seven birth children, so their household has always been full of life.
Active in her community, Lorina first heard about foster care through a women’s action group she was a part of. She went home and spoke to Dervin about all the children in care who needed homes, and he simply responded: ‘I’ll do whatever I need to do to support you.’
Since that moment they’ve welcomed more than 280 children and young people into their home with open arms. ‘It was nerve wrecking at first’, Dervin says, ‘but once they’re here they know they’ll be cared for. After a while everything fell into place.’
Focusing on education
Spending time outside, having fun but also emphasising the importance of education have always been central to Lorina and Dervin’s fostering journey over the years.
‘I always tell the children that education is the passport to their future. I will do everything to help them get there.’ Lorina says.
As well as focusing on education, Lorina and Dervin are committed to providing the most loving, nurturing home possible.
‘I dance in the kitchen when I’m cooking and the little ones will be dancing with me. I give them their books and crayons to try keep them occupied in the sitting room, but once the music is playing they are in the kitchen with me. They don’t want to do anything else.’
Their foster daughter, Sheryl, joined Lorina and Dervin’s home in 1989 and has remained a part of the family ever since. She says Lorina and Dervin’s emphasis on education, paired with their calm and loving nature helped pave the way towards her successes today.
'I'm not happy without a foster child around me'
‘Pops has the biggest heart’, Sheryl said. ‘“I’ve never come across somebody like him, he understands pain and can communicate with young people effectively’.
‘For mum, she was able to accept me the way I was and work with me to keep me calm and stable. They have patience, nurtured me and gave me love that I’d never received from my biological family.
At the time of speaking, Lorina and Dervin didn’t have any children in their care, having waved goodbye to a child the week before. When asked if they planned on continuing, Lorina said: ‘I want to continue until I can’t do it anymore. I am not happy when I have not got foster children around me. I will climb a mountain to get them where they want to be, to give them a good start in life. And when they reach an age to leave home, I’ll say to them the door is always open. We’ll always be here, because we’re your parents.’
