'I wouldn't have coped without my sister in foster care'

"It's so nice to be able to have each other to lean on because it's such a difficult thing to go through".

Jussi Sidhu is recounting memories, at the age of six, of having her sister Kiran by her side when they were both taken into care after their father took his own life.

Sidhu, from Rugby, said their mother struggled to cope after her father's death and going into care she says that "you're stripped of everything you know".

The 33-year-old - who is now herself a foster carer - says she's grateful to have lived with her sister. But it was a different story for their two brothers, who were split up and fostered by different families.

"Just having that little bit of normality and knowing that someone is there for you and that they are going to protect you," Sidhu said.

Deep down though she always felt "awful" that her brothers were left alone.

"It's a scary situation that you're put in. You're placed with strangers and you're scared about what's going to happen next," she explained.

Sidhu has spoken out, to urge other families to foster children like she is now doing, after official government figures showed the number of foster carers fell from 63,890 in 2021 to 56,345 in March 2025 - a 12% drop.

Of her own experiences, Sidhu said she and her sister were treated differently from their foster carer's biological children.

"There were times where I felt like there were big gaps and more could have been done," she said.

"There was a lot that we missed that we would have ordinarily have done, like going to the Gurdwara or going swimming. I felt like we had lost a big part of our identity."

But she says the experience really strengthened her relationship with Kiran.

"If she'd cry, I'd cry, we'd really feel each other's emotions," Sidhu said.

"I think when you've been through so much trauma in life you just have a deeper bond."

She and 34-year-old Kiran Karir, as she is now known, have since reunited with their brothers and try to keep in touch.

Despite already having two children of her own, seven-year-old Kaleb and Jaicob, 10, Sidhu has recently expanded her family by taking on two foster children, who are also siblings.

She says her and her husband Juggy are determined to provide their foster children with the same opportunities as Kaleb and Jaicob.

"Whether people agree with it or not, whatever we do with our own [children], we do with our foster children too," says Sidhu.

"I think for me, being in care, it's something that I always noticed. I always felt that there was a bit of a difference and that does affect you."

She says it's important to outline simple things, like what the plan is for the day or who will be picking them up after school.

By doing this, she is working to ensure her foster children don't feel left out or startled by anything unfamiliar.

"The children have come to us needing a lot of support with their development and have specific needs," she explains.

"There has been a lot of neglect, so it requires a lot of time and attention.

"It is challenging, it is exhausting, but [rewarding] just seeing how far they've come in such a short space of time. When you've got the right environment, it can be life changing, really."

Sidhu has also been using social media to share her own journey to encourage more foster families, like hers, to come forward to help children who really need it.

She says so far the response has been largely positive.

"I think a lot of people are surprised that we've done this, because we are so happy and settled... especially because our two are still quite young and it is a big change for them," she says.

"But actually, we feel like they've really stepped up and it's made them appreciate things a lot more, so it does have positives as well.

"You can help shape that life for that child and what they're going to become in the future. It just takes one person to make that change."