‘A little piece of my heart goes with each of them’: Foster carer reflections on current fostering practice

Abstract

In the UK, fostering is the principal way of looking after children in care. Foster carers have been reported to be motivated to undertake this task by an intrinsic desire to nurture and improve the lives of young people. However, the work faces numerous challenges, especially with regard to relationships with other professionals involved in children’s lives and a lack of support for young people with complex needs. Allegations made against carers also increase the potential for carer stress and an exit from fostering. This article reports the findings from an online survey of 422 foster carers in England, complemented by eight in-depth interviews. Although this research was undertaken during the global Covid-19 pandemic when schools and other social settings were closed for prolonged periods, which had some effect on participants’ responses, the issues raised were enduring rather than ephemeral. The findings highlight the two key themes of ‘transformative professional relationships’ and ‘translations of professional love’. Recommendations for professional training across disciplines are suggested.

Keywords

Fostering foster carers children in care looked after children social workers carer stress

Introduction

In England, three–quarters of all looked after children are fostered. A fifth of these placements are categorised as ‘living with family and friends’ and the remainder as ‘non-family or friends[’] households’, sometimes called ‘stranger fostering’ (Ofsted, 2021). Given the histories of maltreatment, family dysfunction and absent parenting among these children, the relationships they form with their carers have been found to have a major influence on future developmental outcomes and to provide a source of recovery from previous adversity (Hill, 2009; Sprecher et al., 2021; Withington et al., 2017). It follows, then, that to recruit and retain foster carers most effectively, the views and experiences of carers should be reflected in fostering practice. This is especially important given the recent growth in the number of children in care and the problems with foster carer recruitment. This article contributes to our knowledge of foster carers’ experiences by presenting their views, which were gathered using an online survey and in-depth interviews.

Motivation to foster

Although individual motivations to foster may be complex and based on many factors, two main forms of motivation have been reported: intrinsic and extrinsic (Rodger, Cummings and Leschied, 2006). Intrinsic motivators include: a sense of altruism, religious affiliation, a carer’s desire to have a child of their own to raise and love, a desire to prevent harm, to provide company for an only child or to fill a void created by an ‘empty nest’. Important extrinsic motivating factors include meeting or knowing other foster carers as a child or adult or, less often, contact with a fostered child or young person (Sebba, 2012). Additionally, although many kinship carers (foster carers with a connection to the child, i.e., relatives or friends) experience a sense of obligation, they may also be motivated by personal life experiences and prior professional experiences (Blackburn, 2015).

In a survey of 539 foster carers, Denby, Rindfleisch and Bean (1999) found that while intrinsic motivators are central to carers’ initial decisions to foster, extrinsic motivators are crucial to their retention. Levels of financial compensation, clarity of expectations and a sense of being valued by key professionals play an important part in this (Randle et al., 2017; Rodger, Cummings and Leschied, 2006). The ability to continue fostering also relies largely on the quality of carers’ social and professional relationships as effective communication with agency workers and other foster parents can support carers to remain in their role (Denby, Rindfleisch and Bean, 1999; Narey and Owers, 2018).

Challenges in fostering

Communication, relationships with and support from other agencies

As mentioned above, the challenges reported by many carers relate to communication and relationships with local authorities, independent fostering associations and social workers, as well as to the communication between professionals within these organisations (Blackburn, 2015; 2016b). This is not surprising given the findings of Narey and Owers (2018: 4) who interviewed 100 children living in foster care and highlighted inconsistent relationships with social workers as a major problem. While some children spoke highly of their social worker, others described feeling ‘invisible’, and a common concern among both children and carers was the frequent changes in social workers which intensified the challenges they faced.

Challenging behaviour

A further problem reported by foster carers is the perceived challenging behaviour of the children in their care. Before entering care, many young people experience several layers of disadvantage, with around 63% experiencing neglect or abuse (Department for Education [DfE], 2019). This can leave a child susceptible to difficulties with regulating their emotions and forming relationships and to cognitive and physical developmental delays (Cecil et al., 2017; Dubois-Comtoisa et al., 2015). In turn, these difficulties and delays can result in higher levels of emotional and behavioural problems than children of the same age who have not experienced maltreatment. A study by Murray, Tarren-Sweeney and France of 17 foster carers in New Zealand found that participants reported high levels of stress and that supporting children’s mental health difficulties resulted in a ‘high burden of care’ (2011:15), which is exacerbated by a lack of appropriate training. Foster children’s difficult behaviour can increase the risk of placement disruption and present a significant challenge to foster carers’ well-being (Leathers, 2006; Octoman, McLean and Sleep, 2014). However, Leathers (2006) also highlights a range of other contributing factors, such as the children’s age and/or the quality of foster homes, and notes that accounts of challenging behaviour can become inflated by caseworkers and/or foster carers when they are recalled. Dubois-Comtoisa and colleagues (2015) argue that while the background of children entering the care system is important, the backgrounds of foster carers themselves can be of equal consequence. They suggest that the level of the carer’s commitment, the number of placements and the age of the child at the time of placement influence the foster child’s ability to adjust to their new surroundings and determine subsequent behavioural issues.

Harding and colleagues (2018) scrutinised placement, carer and child characteristics related to perceived foster carer stress in a sample of 158 foster and kinship carers in Queensland, Australia. Participants completed a self-reporting online survey that assessed carer stress and their perceptions of the child in their care and the wider child protection system. Overall, the respondents reported high stress, with 20% falling within the clinical range on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI-4-SF). This was significantly higher for those providing care for children with heightened emotional and behavioural problems, as reported by the carer. Both foster carer stress and the emotional and behavioural challenges of the child were significantly related to placement factors such as the duration of time the child had been there and the child protection court order under which the child had been placed.

Support for foster carers

The increasingly complex needs of children in care and their impact on the viability of placements have resulted in a widespread acknowledgement of the need to provide carers with a range of support services (Sellick and Thoburn, 2002; Sinclair, Wilson and Gibbs, 2000), including culturally sensitive and sophisticated support mechanisms (Thompson and Rickford, 2000). Alongside professional contributions, the importance of peer support is also recognised. Carers report that support and advice from other carers is crucial – particularly during times of uncertainty. In their 2018 survey of foster care in the UK, Narey and Owers highlighted the Mockingbird Family Model, a project that creates networks (or constellations) between foster homes. In this model, one foster home acts as a hub which is supported by a liaison officer and offers peer support, coaching, planned and emergency respite care, as well as social events for families. It is argued that this model improves placement stability by increasing support and reducing isolation.

A further consideration is the dual and sometimes overlapping or even conflicting roles played by foster carers. Schofield and colleagues (2013: 46) suggest that foster carers primarily identify as either carers or parents but that some can move flexibly between these roles while others cannot. For those who can be flexible, the two roles can enrich one another rather than causing stress and role conflict, a finding that has profound implications for supporting professional foster carers who seek to meet the parenting needs of long-term foster children.

Aims and objectives of the study

This article reports on selected findings from an external independent evaluation of a fostering membership service. It focuses on foster carers’ motivations and experiences of fostering, their well-being and their relationship with other professionals. It explores two research questions:

What are foster carers’ experiences of current fostering practice?

What are the factors that enable and promote foster carers’ motivation to remain in the role?

Research methodology and methods

Using a mixed methods approach, this study combined the findings from an online survey and in-depth interviews with foster carers. The survey was trialled with two foster carers before being promoted on social media and circulated by email to 18,000 carers who are members of a membership service funded by the DfE. It comprised a combination of closed questions related to fostering experiences as well as open ones designed to elicit more information. Interviews provided the opportunity for foster carers to give further details of their experiences. Eight foster carers were selected by the researchers for the in-depth interviews, which took place on an online telephone platform. Of the survey respondents who had indicated a willingness to be interviewed, participants were identified following consideration of their background characteristics, such as gender, age, (dis)ability and family circumstances, to ensure that the group was representative of all fostering situations.

Quantitative data from the closed survey questions were displayed as frequencies, for example, demographic data and the number of respondents who experienced or expressed a particular challenge in fostering. For the qualitative data, a priori themes were analysed to address the research question, and emergent themes were then identified. For example, the experiences of foster carers and their motivation to foster were important themes. Having identified answers to the research questions, data were analysed thematically, and other themes were identified.

Sampling

All research participants were treated equally regardless of gender, colour, ethnic or national origin, (dis)ability, socio-economic background, religious or political beliefs, trade union membership, family circumstances, sexual orientation or other distinctions.

Ethical considerations

Guidelines of the British Educational Research Association (BERA, 2018) informed the day-to-day conduct and ethical standards of the study. Approval was sought and obtained from Birmingham City University’s Faculty of Health, Education and Life Sciences academic ethics committee.

All participants (including those who participated in the survey and those subsequently interviewed) were briefed and provided with an information sheet explaining the nature, purpose and planned dissemination of the results of the evaluation. Their ability to refuse participation or withdraw at any stage was explicitly stated and respected at all times. A guarantee of confidentiality was provided, and their anonymity was maintained throughout. No links between participants and locations were included in any of the outputs of the evaluation, and participants are kept entirely anonymous in the findings and discussion below.

Survey findings

In total, 422 responses to the online survey were received, but it is important to note that not all respondents answered every question. Total responses do not always equate to 100%, therefore. In terms of demographics, the majority of respondents lived in the South East of England (19%), the South West (16%), the North West (15%), the West Midlands (14%) or the East Midlands (12%). However, there were also respondents from Yorkshire and the Humber (8%), the North East (7%), the East of England (5%) and London (3%). Most lived in urban environments: 90 (21%) in a city, 190 (45%) in a town, 142 (34%) in a village.

The majority (352 or 83%) of participants were female, with 66 (16%) male, one female-to-male transgender and three who preferred not to say. In addition, 282 (67%) were married, 89 (21%) were single, 41 (10%) lived with a partner, eight preferred not to say and two were in a civil partnership. Twelve respondents (3%) were members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and 18 reported having a disability. Nearly half of all respondents were aged 51 to 60 and the majority (377 or 89%) were White British.

Fostering experience

Respondents had been fostering for varied lengths of time, from less than a year (45) to more than 20 years (29). The highest number of respondents had been fostering for two to five years (99) or five to 10 years (97). Just over half of all respondents (255) had fostered 10 or fewer children, with a smaller number (83) having fostered between 10 and 20. The number of children currently being fostered also varied, with the majority either fostering one (178) or two children (121). Smaller numbers of respondents were fostering five or more children (3), and 55 respondents were not fostering any at the time of the survey.

Views on fostering

Motivation to foster

The majority (345 or 82%) of respondents were motivated to foster by an intrinsic desire to provide a safe nurturing environment. Roughly one–third fostered because they had available space, and a smaller number entered fostering because it was suggested to them, they had seen an advertisement for fostering or viewed it as a source of income. A minority of respondents (18) wanted to provide kinship care, followed by having empathy for others (nine) and wanting to give back after having been fostered personally (eight). Participants were able to select more than one response, and it is clear from their replies that motivation can be multidimensional.

Enjoyable aspects of fostering

The most enjoyable aspect of fostering reported by nearly all (399 or 95%) respondents was providing a secure base for children, followed closely by developing a positive bond with them (367 or 87%).

Other important aspects included personal satisfaction from seeing foster children’s growing confidence (362 or 86%), helping children with practical issues (302 or 72%), increasing their own understanding of child development (260 or 62%) and helping children with friendships (233 or 55%). Less significant but still important were helping children with schoolwork (209 or 50%), attending training (205 or 49%), sharing ideas with other carers (199 or 47%), working with other agencies (177 or 42%) and relationships with birth parents and others (105 or 25%). Included in the category labelled ‘Other enjoyable aspects’ were multiple individual comments mainly relating to enriching children’s lives, for example:

Giving holidays, days out, clothes, socialising.

Helping the child to move on to forever placements with confidence and keeping in touch to hear their progress and provide support to their birth/adoptive family.

Just seeing the difference you can make by not giving up on someone.

Helping children develop a strong and secure sense of self. Filling in their gaps in early development.

Giving children a family who accepted them as they are forever.

Taking in children that would otherwise be in a residential setting and those that have complex needs.

Helping a child unpick and manage the trauma using therapeutic methods.

My daughter and I both love having more children in the house, we feel it completes our family and we love helping our foster children to feel part of our loved family.

However, some comments were also about families or fostering more broadly:

Not all fostering is childcare. It’s parents and child too – so I enjoy helping young parents form a positive and healthy bond with their baby.

[I enjoy] [s]upporting parents to remain with their children where possible.

Challenges for foster carers

Just over half of respondents indicated that children’s behaviour represented the most significant challenge (225 or 53%), and a further third (130 or 31%) highlighted allegations. Nearly a third (126 or 30%) mentioned relationships with birth parents and a lack of support (118 or 28%) as a problem. Other less commonly reported but no less difficult issues included funding (93 or 22%), relationship with the local authority (82 or 19%), relationship with social worker(s) (80 or 19%), relationship with educators (31 or 7%), access to training (17 or 4%) and relationship with a fostering agency (13 or 3%) (Figure 1).

Figure I.

Challenges for foster carers.

The challenges of relationships with services, child behaviour, relationships/bonds with children and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic were exemplified by the following comments:

We love our job … however, we were with a private fostering agency and they could not provide the children that we felt we could help with best so we went to a local authority. We have a lot of social worker problems as they do not remain in their posts for more than what appear to be just a few weeks or months.

[The hardest part of fostering is] [p]arting with them when they move on even though I know it is the right thing for them. A little piece of my heart goes with each of them.

We know the pandemic has put a strain on services and time, but we feel the expectation and demand put on us has been far beyond what was explained in our training.

Continuation of the fostering role

As many as 176 foster carers (42%) had considered leaving the role at some point in their fostering career (see Table 1). A high number of participants stated that they felt unsupported by their social workers and fostering agencies. Nine went further than this and described their relationship with social workers and agencies as ‘Poor’. The following sentiments encapsulate their views: [there was a] ‘lack of support, [a] feeling that our opinion is not worth anything, a general lack of respect from other professionals’.

Table 1.

Factors contributing to foster carers considering leaving fostering.

Reason/contributing factor	Number of participants
Lack of support from social workers and/or fostering agency	52
Difficult placement	21
The emotional impact	20
Allegations	15
Treated with a lack of respect (by social workers)	9
Concerns about how foster care is managed by agency or local authority	8
Placement broke down	7
Stress on family members	7
Break due to adopting a child or a special guardianship	6
Retirement	6
Hard work involved	5
Financial reasons	5
Lack of suitable placements	4
Personal issues	4
Pressures from fostering agency	3
Health concerns	3
Disappointment	1
Placement ended	1
Unsuitable placement	1
Age	1
Return to full time work	1

The reported lack of support was felt most acutely during times of crisis, such as when the child in their care had been violent towards either them or other family members. Participants also cited undergoing allegations as a time when support was needed but not received. Additionally, participants noted the length of time taken to resolve allegations (approximately a year), which contributed significantly to their sense of anxiety and distress. A lack of support during difficult placements and allegations constituted one of the five most frequently cited reasons for considering leaving fostering.

For those who had remained in fostering, a variety of factors influenced their decision to stay, the most frequently reported of which (80%) was that they enjoyed their role and did not want to leave. The commitment to the children in their care provided sufficient motivation to remain in fostering roles despite the challenges experienced. Participants who felt they had been supported effectively by social workers and/or fostering agencies commented on the difference this had made to their ability to continue. One stated: ‘My fostering agency recognised how difficult the placement had become, how hard I worked … they gave me a paid three-month break to recharge with support from my social worker’. This response demonstrates the positive impact of a fostering agency treating the carer with trust and respect. However, overwhelmingly, participants attributed their decision to remain in foster caring to their personal commitment to the children.

Interviews

One-to-one interviews were conducted with a selected group of eight respondents to explore in greater depth the themes that had emerged from the analysis of the survey data. Seven of the eight participants in this group were female, three were 41 to 50 and the remainder 51 to 60. There was a fairly even spread of participants across the country. Two participants identified as being disabled, seven were White British and one was of White and Black African heritage. The length of time in a fostering role ranged from 18 months to 19 years. Motivations to foster were also wide, ranging from previous personal experience to changing family circumstances.

Current well-being

Five participants described their overall well-being as ‘Good’. For three of these, the reason for this was due to the child(ren) they were looking after being a good fit with their own family, while for another it was because she did not currently have a placement. The remaining three described their well-being as ‘Low’ due to an allegation, or reported that they were stressed/struggling due to Covid-19 causing the child stress and/or having vulnerable adults living in the house while numerous professionals needed to visit.

Most enjoyable day in fostering

Participants described their most enjoyable day in fostering mostly in light of the achievements of the children and young people they had supported, as exemplified by the following comments:

It was the first time she had asked for help and volunteered, like, ‘I’m not scared to come to you because I know you’re not going to shout at me for doing that’. And it was such a huge, like, trust bond moment where the light bulb had shone.

My most enjoyable day of fostering is probably out and about somewhere, doing things, being together, having fun. Just all being together.

When the children themselves turn round and just give you a hug or just say something lovely which is unexpected or thank you for something that you’ve done which didn’t seem significant.

Other highlights for participants included: a child receiving a head teacher’s award, walking a previously fostered child down the aisle and adopting a fostered child.

Most challenging day

Not surprisingly, participants reported their most challenging day of fostering as one that involved a complex situation related to a child. These ranged from violence from a child, children who frequently absconded, an attempted suicide, a child who was newly arrived in the country showing videos of children being hanged, and having to tell a child that their birth parent had passed way:

The most challenging day was a child who was having a mental breakdown. He was 10, and he tried to commit suicide by jumping in front of the social worker’s car whilst it was moving on the road. And it resulted in having to call police officers to restrain him because he had absolutely lost the plot. And the challenging thing about it was not just trying to get him to calm down, because he came inside and destroyed the house. The challenging bit was the social worker not supporting us appropriately.

A child disclosed abuse during lockdown. It was mainly to do with the fact that she was out of our county. So, when referrals were being made, you would go to them and they said, ‘Well, she’s not from our county, she’s out of county therefore she’s not entitled to it’. All of this just takes so long and [is so] laborious … she’s not accessed the support and the therapy that she needs.

Continuation of fostering role

Seven of the eight participants admitted that they had considered leaving fostering either because of an allegation, a poor relationship with a social worker, a traumatic placement, challenging children or a lack of support:

I adore the children and I adore the job itself of looking after them. It’s just very difficult sometimes to accept decisions which you can see damage the child … You know, you put all this work in to try and make sure the kid’s okay, and then a social worker will walk in and obliterate that child in five minutes. In my mind I was just like, I could deal with the kids but, actually, I’m not sure I can deal with social services’ response to that.

All participants stated they remained in foster care due to their commitment to the children.

Discussion

This study explored the views and experiences of foster carers through an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Data collection was undertaken during a global pandemic at a time of varying degrees of national lockdown in the UK, but despite this additional stress for families, 422 responses were received to an online survey and eight carers participated in a semi-structured telephone interview. The findings have been drawn together under two overarching themes for this discussion: ‘Courage to carry on’: Transformative professional relationships and ‘Pieces of my heart’: Translations of professional love.

‘Courage to carry on’: Transformative professional relationships

Findings from this study suggest that social workers and fostering agencies have the potential to create, develop and nurture transformative relationships with foster carers, as discussed below.

Participants stressed throughout the study that they had frequently thought about leaving fostering and that this was mostly due to unsupportive or, in some cases, poor relationships with social workers and/or fostering agencies, particularly during allegations when foster carers described their well-being as ‘Low’. This also translates into foster carers’ descriptions of their most challenging day being related to allegation situations and difficult relationships with social workers, which have the potential to undermine their confidence and well-being. As one participant explained, ‘We went through a period of social workers changing, nobody knew the case and I felt alone’.

However, accounts of more supportive relationships with social workers and agencies demonstrate that they have the potential to transform the fostering experience and to increase the likelihood that foster carers will continue in the role:

The allegation was tough, and I had to find the strength to carry on really, but this gentleman [from a membership support service] supported me … He was just very, very genuine and I felt like he did believe in me – that gave me the courage to carry on.

This reiterates the important role that social workers and fostering agencies play in the retention of foster carers, not to mention their well-being (Denby, Rindfleisch and Bean, 1999; Narey and Owers, 2018). It is important that foster carers feel valued and respected by other professionals (Randle et al., 2017; Rodger, Cummings and Leschied, 2006) and are not undermined by discontinuities in the support they receive from social workers.

‘Pieces of my heart’: Translations of professional love

The findings from this study reinforce the complex nature of motivations to foster, as noted previously (Blackburn, 2015; Denby, Rindfleisch and Bean, 1999; Randle et al., 2017; Rodger, Cummings and Leschied, 2006; Sebba, 2012), but demonstrate an overwhelming desire among foster carers to provide a safe and nurturing space for children. This motivation translates into fostering practice in two ways. Firstly, foster carers describe their most enjoyable day and their overall well-being in terms of their relationships with children. Secondly, their resilience and willingness to continue fostering, despite challenges such as allegations, appear to arise from considerable affection for these children. This affection manifested for some survey participants as the ‘distress caused by placements ending with children they have grown to love’. This vocabulary of ‘love’ was used in other ways by several participants, including this one:

My daughter and I both love having more children in the house, we feel it completes our family and we love helping our foster children to feel part of our loved family, so they can enjoy their time with us as far as possible, have a secure base here, and have happy memories here form part of their positive life story and [pave the way] for a future successful life.

One respondent captured the conflict between the distinct challenges involved in foster caring on the one hand and their own commitment to and ‘love’ for children on the other, stating:

We went through a period of social workers changing, nobody knew the case and I felt alone. This was in addition to inconsistent decisions and money [problems]; if we hadn’t fallen in love with our placement, I think it would have been very different.

The affection for children mentioned in the above statements is reminiscent of the concept of ‘professional love’, whereby professionals acknowledge that their own emotional attachment to children extends beyond the desire to provide basic needs of comfort and safety (Blackburn, 2016a; Page, 2014). Page has made a compelling argument for professional practice with children to be informed by a ‘pedagogy of love’, ensuring that all children ‘know and understand that they are worthy of being loved’ and providing a basis for their ‘emotional resilience, learning and ultimately independence’ (Page, 2018: 134). Children and young people require ‘sensitive, skilled, loving, special adults with whom they have formed a deep and sustaining relationship’ (Page, 2014: 125). According to this model, the professional engages in a reciprocal relationship with the child and buttresses and complements familial love for the child, so contributing to the mutual enhancement of their well-being. Even when the participants in this study did not use the word ‘love’, it was arguably evident in their responses, for example: ‘I have considered leaving fostering, the compassion fatigue is significant, but I couldn’t let the child down’. This is an interesting finding given the assertion from Dubois-Comtoisa and colleagues (2015) that while the background of children entering the care system is a factor in children’s challenging behaviour and consequent foster carer stress, the level of the foster carer’s commitment and other characteristics are an important influence on the child’s ability to adjust to their new surroundings and subsequent behavioural issues. As such, the concept of ‘professional love’ might be an interesting notion for the training of foster carers and other relevant professionals to explore.

Strengths and weaknesses of the study

The strength of this study is the large response to a national survey. Over 420 foster carers completed the online survey, despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, and eight of them participated in semi-structured telephone interviews. This provided both a breadth and depth of information on the experiences of foster carers in fulfilling their caring roles. However, the lack of diversity in the survey sample (mostly female, mature, married and White British) is limiting, and future research needs to explore the experiences of a more diverse group of carers. While the survey respondents were self-selecting, the interview sample was selected carefully to include as much diversity as possible; however, it cannot be considered a representative sample. In addition, it would have been beneficial to explore the experiences of fostering agencies and social workers to compare and contrast the accounts given by foster carers in this article.

Conclusions and implications

This study shows a strong correspondence between the relationships between foster carers and other professionals and their well-being, resilience and motivation to foster. The DfE prioritises children in care and values the role of foster carers in the lifelong achievement and well-being of young people in care. But foster carers do not operate in a silo; they are supported by a network of agencies, professionals and membership services. There are, therefore, clear benefits to a further investigation into the relationships and communication between other professionals (social workers, fostering agencies, police officers and criminal justice workers) and foster carers in order to better understand and improve current practices. There is also a need for training to be developed for social workers, local authorities and independent fostering agencies, as well as other professionals, on sensitive, relational and professional approaches to working with both foster carers and children in care.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this research was funded by FosterTalk.

Carolyn Blackburn is a reader in interdisciplinary practice and research with families at Birmingham City University, UK.

Elaine Matchett is an assistant professor in childhood, youth and education studies at Coventry University, UK.

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