Manchester People - Issue 45, New Year 2011

Chris didn't get off to the best start in life but now thanks to supportive foster parents he's thriving.

"Do you give hugs?" This was one of the main things nine-year-old Chris wanted to know six years ago before he went to live with his new foster carers in north Manchester.

A brand-new campaign, aimed at finding more foster carers with space in their hearts and their homes to look after some of the city's most vulnerable children and young people, will be launched this January.

Foster carers can and do make a real difference to children's lives.

Neglected and physically assaulted at home, Chris was - at the age of six going on seven - the main carer and protector of his two little sisters.

Now, at the age of 16, he is an intelligent, confident and artistically gifted teenager who has an amazing 15 GCSEs including three A*s, six As and six Bs. Chris is currently studying for A levels in maths, chemistry, physics and psychology, and wants to go on to study musical theatre at drama school so he can achieve his dream of treading the boards in the starring role of a West End musical. Chris has already proved himself to be a talented actor in a string of amateur prodcutions.

Here's his story in his own words:

My mum and dad divorced when we were quite young. Our dad left
us with nothing really. I remember we slept on a mattress on the floor with no carpets, and then we went to a women's refuge for a while until my mum met my stepdad and we moved to Manchester.

My stepdad was out finding work a lot of the time, and I can't remember much about my mum, so I used to get up and make breakfast for my little sisters. I'd put them some toast on, or get them some Rice Krispies.

We never had proper meals. We were just given a pack of custard creams, or a six-pack of crisps.

And then one day, the day after my sister's birthday, a big thing happened. I wanted to watch something on TV - The Bill or something - and my stepdad lashed out at me and hit me in the face.

I went into school the next morning and the teacher asked me what had happened. I just used to keep it in and not say anything. I think I told her it was sunburn or something, and I think the teacher passed the information on and we got picked up at the end of the day by a social worker and were taken away to a foster carer with a black bin bag of stuff that someone must have got from our house. We didn't go back.

They told us we were just going away for a day and we'd be back tomorrow. We weren't, though.

I know the date. It was 13 September 2001. I was seven. We went to an emergency placement for about a week and then to a few other random placements. I've only got vague memories here and there of them - like watching cartoons on someone's TV.

The one good thing during all this time was school. Even though we changed foster carers we kept going to the same school. I had a great learning mentor who was really kind and the head was really good.

After we'd been with some foster carers for about a year, Julia and Paul came to see us. It was just before my tenth birthday. We had to do a questionnaire for them to find out what they were like. We asked: 'Do you give hugs?' They said yes.

So we asked: 'Do you have Sky TV?' They said yes. They were a bit older than your average parents but we moved in with them.

They were nice, they had things like a computer that we hadn't had before, and a family dog that we used to take for walks to the park. And a cat who was the coolest cat on the street.

We started to trust them. They did things for us and supported us in everything we did. They gave us security and we felt safe.

All this made me change at school. I stopped being so quiet and I started to talk to people.

I began moving up through the different levels with my work until I was top of the class and the school with two other boys.

I think I must have been pretty clever all the time really, but with all the stuff going on at home before I just couldn't get on with my work.

I suppose looking after my sisters like I did when I was six or seven shows that. I look at seven-year-olds now and I can't imagine them doing the stuff I had to do when I was their age.

Before I was taken into care I was very shy and reclusive, with very low self-esteem. I wouldn't talk to anyone. Now I'm completely different. I'm a bubbly, bright, colourful person willing to do anything and give anything a go. I do lots of acting and performing in shows. I'll help anyone and I can talk to people now. I wouldn't have been like this without my foster carers - no way.

But I'm not the only young person like this. There are lots of children out there in situations like I was, or even worse off than me and my sisters.

I wouldn't be like I am now without my foster carers.

You start off in life, and it wasn't great, and then you get this second chance at life, and it's foster carers like mine who make that second chance happen. I wouldn't have had that without them. They're amazing.

 

Chris's next starring role is in Babes in the Wood at the Abraham Moss Theatre, from 24 to 29 January.

If you think you can give a child or a young person a second chance at life, you can find out more by calling 0800 9888931, emailing familyduty@manchester.gov.uk  or visiting www.manchester.gov.uk/fosteringadoption