Become a Foster Carer with OwnLife and Support Children, Gain Skills & Join a Caring Community

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Many children don’t get the best start in life, but you could be the person who could change that. Have you got what it takes to become a foster carer?

Are you…

Over 23

Have a spare bedroom

Have a secure home

Good communication with good written and verbal skills

Sharing our determination never to give up on a child.

The Process

We Support Our Foster Carers

Supporting You

Getting the right support as a foster carer is vital in helping you succeed.

Training For You

We value professionalising foster carers and giving them all the skills

and knowledge they need

Your Wellbeing

Most importantly we support you and your wellbeing.

If you feel good, then you can do good…

Support means many things to different people, and we will always offer flexible and appropriate support strategies that meet your needs.

What we promise to do is…

  • Provide you with continuous supervision and support from your own social worker.

  • Provide you with an out of hours service with people you know.

  • Provide regular support groups where you can discuss with other carers, any challenges you are experiencing.

  • Provide guides and updates on any legislation that you need to be aware of.

  • Be there for you whenever you need us

One BIG team.

Having good quality and relevant training that is regularly updated is part of being a professional.

We offer you pre approval training as part of the assessment process and follow this up after approval with group and individual training that meets your needs, interests and skill level.
Group training sessions are held monthly either face to face or by zoom.

Individual sessions that are designed for your personal and professional development are on line and you can access these when it suits you.

Topics cover all the essential skills a foster carer needs, for example:

Health and safety, safeguarding, attachment trauma and loss, positive behaviour support, record keeping and life story work, substance misuse, domestic violence, sexual exploitation and equality and diversity.

Whatever your needs or interest, we will find a course that suits you best.

We know that to do a good job, you need to feel good

People understand Wellbeing in different ways. We know that to do a good job. you need to feel good yourself and so we put a great emphasis on everyone feeling valued and respected.

We meet monthly in a wellbeing  support group which is activity based. Some of the things we have been involved in are healthy eating sessions and group cooking, yoga, gentle exercise, Christmas decoration making, and groups talking about why we foster, and how it makes us feel.

We have activities each year which include a summer picnic, perhaps bowling or trampolining with the children, and a Christmas pantomime.

What we want to do is help you achieve some balance in your lives, between your family and fostering, the good bits and the challenges, and ensure you feel that supported in every aspect of what you do.