Saadia and Syed
aged 39 and 38
SAADIA AND SYED are a smiley, welcoming couple who will provide a caring, fun and stimulating environment for any child placed with them. They have been married since 1994 and have two daughters, aged seven and nine. As a family, they like to be involved in a variety of activities, and go on day trips when they can. Their daughters particularly enjoy art and crafts, playing outside and riding their bikes.
Saadia and Syed, who is known as Hassan, live in a spacious three-bedroomed Victorian house, with one spare bedroom, on the outskirts of a major city in south-west England. It is a multicultural area with a Mosque nearby, several shops and a Doctors’ surgery. Locally, there are three retail parks, a cinema and bowling alley. Saadia and Hassan’s home is situated near a bus route which leads into the city centre and its surrounding area.
Saadia and Hassan consider religion to be very important, and feel that it teaches them values that they adhere to. Their daughters attend the local Mosque and they regularly attend Islamic school. Saadia, Hassan and their children celebrate Eid festivals with other members of the family. The couple feel especially able to care for a Muslim child, of any ethnicity, so that they would be fully included within the family’s routine.
Saadia and Hassan both work, but Saadia would be the main carer once a child is placed with them. The couple have already provided two, week-long, short foster care breaks for looked after children between the ages of five and ten, and they engage well with children and young people.
SAADIA likes reading religious books, gardening, and designing and making Asian clothing for her children and extended family members. She teaches a clothes design course part time in a college. Saadia is a practising Muslim and prays five times a day. Her first language is Urdu but she also speaks English and Punjabi.
HASSAN enjoys going for walks, spending time with his family and watching a variety of recently released films. As a hobby, he repairs and builds personal computers for himself and other people. Hassan works as a customer service advisor for an insurance company.
Ethnic and cultural descent: Asian British of Pakistani descent, Muslim
Approval status: approved as permanent foster carers for one child, of either gender, aged between three to 13 years, ideally of Muslim faith
Area: south-west England
Elaine Graham
TACT Bristol & South West
Tel: 0117 927 7725.
Email: e.graham@tactcare.org.uk
Last updated: 01 September 08
