young people from across Manchester prepare to return to their university studies or go off to university for the first time, council bosses are asking the city’s empty-nesters to think about putting all their years’ experience of bringing up children to good use and to consider fostering some of the city’s most vulnerable children and young people.
People like south Manchester based foster carer Jayne Weekes, who became a foster carer after her own children became adults and left home, make an enormous difference every day to the children and young people they look after.
Here’s Jayne’s story.
After 18 years in the travel industry, when Covid came round and she was furloughed from her job in May 2020, it was clear to business travel consultant Jayne Weekes 62 from Fallowfield, that her career needed a new direction.
Having grown up working first of all in shops and bars and then for her builder brother in his offices before starting out in the travel industry, she had loved her job of nearly two decades.
Almost overnight however the pandemic put paid to this. With travel, for business or pleasure, all but coming to a standstill, she soon discovered she was no longer able to continue in her role and furlough called for a rethink.
Sadly, for Jayne the start of the pandemic didn’t just mean she had to rethink her career. Having grown up in Manchester in a big Irish family, very loving and very happy, with three siblings plus a half brother and eventually 10 stepbrothers and sisters, as well as lots of cousins – all of whom were very close to each other – family life changed massively for Jayne and her brothers and sisters when in 2020 they also had to come to terms with the death of their mum, Kay.
It was after her mum passed away that Jayne began to think about doing something that involved caring for others.
She said: “I decided I wanted to do something in the care industry because I’m that kind of person, I like looking after people.”
Looking after children was something that was particularly dear to her heart. With so many siblings, stepsiblings and cousins around when she was growing up Jayne had always been around children, always looking out for them, and by the time Covid came round, she and her bus driver husband Ritchie, were already supporting their adult daughter and her four children.
It was perhaps no surprise then that grounded as she was through Covid from her regular job, Jayne decided to try fostering and she and Ritchie went through the rigorous assessment process together during furlough.
years on and now a seasoned foster carer, Jayne loves the role she plays in the lives of the children and young people she looks after and especially the difference she sees in them after the first few weeks.
She said: “I love making that difference in their lives. They start to see a different side of life – it’s just nice to show them there’s a big wide world out there. It’s so rewarding, I love it. I only wish I’d done it years ago.”
Whilst many parents might find the teenage years of their offspring challenging and their behaviours hard to understand, Jayne is full of empathy for the teenagers she encounters.
She said: “Teenagers are great, it’s just sad to see them have to go through so much. They’ve got so much more understanding and awareness about the world around them, but when you connect with them, they know you’re there to keep them safe. They’re all different characters, but I’ve had lots of experience of them, which helps me understand them better.”
Asked whether she would like her old travel industry job back, Jayne’s commitment to fostering and to helping young people through the difficult times in their lives shines through.
She said: “Fostering is just so rewarding on so many levels. It’s definitely how my life was meant to be, and I feel so many children in the care system have missed out on what I could have done for them over the years.”
Passionate as she is about fostering she’s also very clear there is nothing that would tempt her to give up doing what she does to make a difference to some of Manchester’s most vulnerable children and young people.
She added: “If I had a Lottery win, I’d buy a big house and look after even more of them.”
