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What if children with complex health needs didn’t have to grow up in hospitals or residential units, but could experience everyday family life instead with your help?

We sit down with Richard Powell, managing director of Credo Care, to unpack how specialist fostering makes that possible — and far more achievable than most imagine.

Across 25 years, Credo Care has built a model that treats foster carers as professionals and partners. Richard explains how the message is clear: you don’t need to be a medic to foster brilliantly; you need willingness to learn, consistency, compassion and a brilliant team at your back.

We also tackle the practical hurdles — from equipment and home adaptations to the patchwork of local funding — and how careful matching over weeks or months builds placements that last.

Richard shares why burnout prevention is built in, not bolted on: a large support‑worker team for everyday breathing room, dedicated respite carers who become part of the extended family, and a culture that honours joy alongside complexity. Outcomes reflect that care: few breakdowns, more permanence through adoption or special guardianship, and smooth transitions into adulthood via Shared Lives where needed.

Along the way, we dispel the biggest myth in disability‑focused fostering: that high medical needs mean high difficulty. With training, mentoring, and steady coordination with hospitals and local authorities, families discover that complex care can weave into ordinary routines — school runs, clubs, and quiet nights in.

If you’ve wondered whether fostering could be for you, this conversation offers a grounded, hopeful roadmap and a challenge to think bigger about what home can mean.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your top takeaway — your share might be the reason a child finds a family.

For those interested in what Palliative care looks like at home there is "The Last Kiss" (Not a Romance)
Available on Amazon now
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Kiss-Romance-Carers-Stories/dp/1919635289/ref=sr_1_1?crid=13D6YWONKR5YH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._59mNNFoc-rROuWZnAQfsG0l3iseuQuK_gx-VxO_fe6DLJR8M0Az039lJk_HxFcW2o2HMhIH3r3PuD7Dj-D6KTwIHDMl2Q51FGLK8UFYOBwbRmrLMbpYoqOL6I5ruLukF1vq7umXueIASDS2pO91JktkZriJDJzgLfPv1ft5UtkdQxs9isRDmzAYzc5MKKztINcNGBq-GRWKxgvc_OV5iKKvpw0I5d7ZQMWuvGZODlY.fqQgWV-yBiNB5186RxkkWvQYBoEsDbyq-Hai3rU1cwg&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+last+kiss+not+a+romance&qid=1713902566&s=books&sprefix=The+Last+kiss+n%2Cstripbooks%2C107&sr=1-1

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A name mispronounced, a laugh shared, and then the door opens onto a life where books were the only safe room in the house. We sit down with author and playwright Alan Dapré—63 children’s books and counting—to explore how a childhood in care, a brutal boarding school, and one compassionate nun shaped a creative practice built on dignity, humour, and hope. Alan takes us from libraries that felt like lifelines to Radio 4 plays about leaving care and ageing in care, and he shows how a single line—why be ordinary when you can be extraordinary—can become a working philosophy for kids who’ve been told to shrink.

The heart of the conversation is Max, a rescue dog with a rough first year who became the star of a tender picture book. Max’s history (passed around, frightened, trigger-stacked) mirrors what many children carry, and his transformation under love becomes a simple, blazing point: you are not your past; you are how you’re held now. We talk about reading in the age of tablets, vanishing libraries, and why a toddler lost in a page world is still radical. Alan brings craft insights, too—why writing what you know isn’t a cage but a compass, and how cutting a line can make room for an actor to say everything with one word.

Then comes a poem that stops time. Sixteen marks a cliff edge for too many young people in care—support drops, risk rises, and “corporate parenting” sounds like a bad joke when homework is done on a stool beside leaky pipes. From there we get practical: the perils of profit in placements, the need for local capacity, and a one-line banner anyone can carry—real homes for real kids. We also share our 10K-a-day fundraiser to build a proper platform for fostering stories that recruit new carers, one short, shareable clip at a time.

If you care about children, books, or building a fairer system, this conversation will stay with you. Listen, share it with someone who needs a nudge to act, and leave a review so more people can find these stories.

For those interested in what Palliative care looks like at home there is "The Last Kiss" (Not a Romance)
Available on Amazon now
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Kiss-Romance-Carers-Stories/dp/1919635289/ref=sr_1_1?crid=13D6YWONKR5YH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._59mNNFoc-rROuWZnAQfsG0l3iseuQuK_gx-VxO_fe6DLJR8M0Az039lJk_HxFcW2o2HMhIH3r3PuD7Dj-D6KTwIHDMl2Q51FGLK8UFYOBwbRmrLMbpYoqOL6I5ruLukF1vq7umXueIASDS2pO91JktkZriJDJzgLfPv1ft5UtkdQxs9isRDmzAYzc5MKKztINcNGBq-GRWKxgvc_OV5iKKvpw0I5d7ZQMWuvGZODlY.fqQgWV-yBiNB5186RxkkWvQYBoEsDbyq-Hai3rU1cwg&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+last+kiss+not+a+romance&qid=1713902566&s=books&sprefix=The+Last+kiss+n%2Cstripbooks%2C107&sr=1-1

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A child doesn’t need every word to make sense; they need a safe space where rhythm, pictures, and patience invite them in. That’s the spirit of our conversation with author-illustrator Carly Ann Osborne, who blends classroom experience with creative storytelling to help neurodivergent children feel recognised. We explore how The Cute Newt draws from autistic traits and Quinn the Penguin captures ADHD energy, and why those pages matter most when a child says, “I do that.”

Carly shares hard-won insights from working in a mainstream school with neurodivergent pupils: listen beyond words, follow the child’s lead, and give communication more than one doorway. Some children speak in stories or metaphors, others in gestures, drawings, or movement. We talk about co-regulation, the calming power of routine, and simple tools like visual supports and movement breaks that foster trust. Along the way, we swap stories about fostering, where needs vary widely and progress often shows up weeks or months after the first try—proof that patience beats pressure.

We also dig into representation and access. From the first autistic Barbie to classroom bookshelves, seeing yourself on the page can dissolve shame and build confidence. Carly’s characters come from real encounters—a school pond full of newts, a traveller’s penguin photos, a child searching for a 3D-printed capybara—keeping the work grounded and relatable. And yes, we get into the realities of self-publishing versus traditional deals, how indie authors reach schools, and why clarity and craft matter more than celebrity. If you care about children’s mental health, inclusive education, and stories that validate different ways of being, you’ll find ideas you can use tonight at story time.

Subscribe for more conversations on fostering, neurodiversity, and children’s books that open doors. Share this episode with someone who needs fresh tools and leave a review to help others find the show.

For those interested in what Palliative care looks like at home there is "The Last Kiss" (Not a Romance)
Available on Amazon now
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Kiss-Romance-Carers-Stories/dp/1919635289/ref=sr_1_1?crid=13D6YWONKR5YH&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._59mNNFoc-rROuWZnAQfsG0l3iseuQuK_gx-VxO_fe6DLJR8M0Az039lJk_HxFcW2o2HMhIH3r3PuD7Dj-D6KTwIHDMl2Q51FGLK8UFYOBwbRmrLMbpYoqOL6I5ruLukF1vq7umXueIASDS2pO91JktkZriJDJzgLfPv1ft5UtkdQxs9isRDmzAYzc5MKKztINcNGBq-GRWKxgvc_OV5iKKvpw0I5d7ZQMWuvGZODlY.fqQgWV-yBiNB5186RxkkWvQYBoEsDbyq-Hai3rU1cwg&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+last+kiss+not+a+romance&qid=1713902566&s=books&sprefix=The+Last+kiss+n%2Cstripbooks%2C107&sr=1-1