What Difference Does Fostering Really Make? Bebe Jackson’s Story
It’s easy to talk about fostering in numbers. We hear about the children in care, the shortage of foster families and the miles some children are moved from home.
Every one of those figures matters. But none tells you what actually changes for a child when the right home finally opens its door.
For that, you need to listen to someone who’s lived it.
Bebe Jackson has.
Today, Bebe is a British para-athlete who competes internationally in T44 sprinting and F44 field events. In 2025, on her senior international debut, she won bronze in the T44 100m at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.
Two years earlier, she made history by winning silver in the discus at the Commonwealth Youth Games. In doing so, she became Team England’s first female para-athlete to win a medal at the Games.
Then, in July 2026, another ambition became reality when she represented England at her first senior Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
She’s now looking towards Los Angeles 2028 while pursuing another ambition away from athletics: becoming a nurse.
Bebe came to foster carers Mick and Pauline when she was eleven. She’s been part of their family ever since.
So much so, in fact, that she doesn’t really think of Mick simply as her foster carer.
“Mick is my foster carer, but I call him my granddad, because that’s what he feels like to me.”
Why Bebe came into care
Bebe is open about how she came to be fostered. She’s equally clear about how she wants it to be understood.
After the loss of two of her siblings, her family went through a period of profound grief. It was in the aftermath of that loss that Bebe entered foster care at eleven.
What she wants people to take from her story isn’t pity, but perspective.
“Everyone goes through a hard time in their lives. My parents went through a very difficult time, but they’ve been just as supportive as Mick — they’ve always been there for me, they’ve never left my side.”
Bebe credits Mick with making sure that relationship continued. Her parents remained involved and informed throughout.
Fostering therefore added to her family rather than trying to replace it.
That’s an important part of fostering which isn’t always understood. Where it’s safe and appropriate, supporting a child’s relationship with their birth family can be a hugely important part of caring for them.
It’s also one of the areas where foster carers receive guidance and advice as part of the support available to foster carers.
What actually made the difference?
Ask Bebe what made foster care work for her and she doesn’t reach for anything grand.
She remembers the fridge always being open and being told to help herself. She remembers those first few weeks when Mick and Pauline simply spent time with her. They took her out, talked to her and got to know her.
Above everything else, she remembers talking.
“It’s just about communication. Getting through the tough times, the arguments, the stress — all of it by being open with each other, with no secrets in the house.”
As her sporting ability developed, that everyday support became increasingly practical.
Mick found contacts and drove Bebe to training and competitions around the country. He also helped fund the coaching and specialist support she needed.
When problems with her foot were making running painful, he helped her access specialist orthotic care and a bespoke carbon-fibre splint.
But none of that diminishes what Bebe herself has achieved.
She’s the athlete who trained, competed and kept going. She’s very clear, though, about the importance of having somebody beside her who believed those ambitions were possible.
“I credit Mick.”
That’s perhaps what “the difference is you” really means.
Fostering created an opportunity for two families to come together. What followed was built through thousands of ordinary moments.
There were conversations, car journeys, disagreements, encouragement, training sessions and meals. Most importantly, there was somebody who kept turning up.
Mick, for his part, has always held to one principle that echoes everything Bebe says about her own family: never blame the child’s parents.
It’s not difficult to understand why that mattered to an eleven-year-old going through an enormously difficult period in her family’s life.
Where is Bebe now?
Today, Bebe lives independently but remains close to Mick and Pauline. They’re still very much part of each other’s lives and of the family they’ve built together.
Her athletics career has gone from strength to strength.
At the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, she won silver in the F42-44/F61-64 discus.
In 2025, she stepped onto the senior international stage for Great Britain and Northern Ireland. She returned home with a World Championship bronze medal in the T44 100m.
Then, in July 2026, she achieved another goal she’d talked about for years: competing for England at a senior Commonwealth Games.
And her ambitions don’t end on the track. Bebe is also working towards a career in nursing.
Her advice to anyone thinking about becoming a foster carer is honest about the difficult moments. But she’s equally clear about what makes them worthwhile.
“It will be hard at some points, you’ll reach hurdles you’ve got to jump over. But there are so many good sides, so many good times you can bring to a child who’s gone through a difficult time. If you’ve got heart, if you’re kind, if you’re caring — why not go for it?”
So, what difference does fostering make?
For Bebe, the difference fostering made wasn’t simply a placement.
It was a person and a family. It was an open fridge and countless journeys to training.
Her parents were kept involved. Difficult conversations were worked through rather than avoided. At competitions, there was someone in the crowd cheering her on.
Eventually, the man she had known as her foster carer became the person she simply called Granddad.
Bebe’s achievements are her own. But her story demonstrates what can happen when a young person has people around them who provide stability and encouragement.
It also shows the importance of giving a child the space to discover what they’re capable of.
There are many more children who need that opportunity.
The Fostering Network estimates that 5,000 more foster families are needed across England in 2026, including around 440 in the East of England. More foster families mean a better chance of finding the right match for each child.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you could foster, you might be surprised by how little actually rules somebody out.
We explore some of the most common misconceptions in our guide to fostering myths you might not know. You can also read about why later life can be an ideal time to foster in fostering after your children leave home.
And if you’re wondering what happens after that first conversation, our guide explains what the fostering assessment process involves and what you can expect at each stage.
You don’t need to produce a world-class athlete.
You simply need to give a child the opportunity to become whoever they’re capable of becoming.
Talk to Little Acorns and find out how you could be the difference for a child.