Shared Lives, why wouldn't you?

Lynne and Chris had waved off the last of their grown-up children and following a period of peace and quiet, found themselves looking for somebody to join their family.

Lynne said:

"We're a fostering family and missed having young people in the house. We heard about Ryan who was looking for a long-term foster family, so I went to meet him at his school. He showed me around and I came home and told Chris I'd met the most amazing young man in the whole world and that we had to have him as part of our family."

Ryan moved in with Lynne and Chris when he was eleven and as fostering came to an end when Ryan became an adult at eighteen, he stayed with them for three more years under the Staying Put scheme then under Shared Lives.

Ryan said:

"Living with Lynne and Chris is absolutely a lot of fun, it's an absolute joy and privilege. We have some amazing holidays, and we create fantastic memories. It's brilliant and I love them to bits."

Chris added:

"Everybody without exception loves Ryan. He is one of those people. Some people are a cup half empty, Ryan is the other type, the cup half full. He is such a joy to be around, everyone who meets him says so."

Ryan has a full, busy life. He volunteers three times a week at the Art Café in Marlow and has become a keen cook and baker as part of his Alfie course for cooking and performing arts. He is also on the Shared Lives Panel where he uses his own life experience to help match others with Shared Lives families.

On Fridays, he and Chris enjoy their time at the pub.

Lynne said:

"Ryan keeps us young, he's amazing, inspirational and fun, just a great person to be around. We can't imagine what our lives would have been like without our wonderful Ryan. Rather than saying why would you want to be Shared Lives carers, why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you want to have the wonderful experiences, the fun, the joy and the life we share with Ryan and his friends. Who wouldn't want that?"

Search West Berkshire Shared Lives to find out more.