In the UK, a child comes into care in need of a foster family every 20 minutes. Over 65,000 children live with almost 55,000 foster families each day. This is nearly 80% of the 83,000 children in care away from home on any one day in the UK*. With around 30,000 more children coming into care over the course of…
Every 20 minutes another child comes into care in need of a foster family in the UK. Every day there are about 65,000 children living with 55,000 foster families. With Foster Care Fortnight™ fast approaching (10-23 May 2021), the annual event provides a platform to shout about our foster care community with this event following the most challenging year of…
With Foster Care Fortnight running from 10-23 May 2021, this is a time when the whole fostering community gets together to raise awareness of fostering and to celebrate the foster care community. To time with this, we recently shared our thoughts on foster care in London with Police Life magazine. In the article we spoke about how every case is…
This year’s Foster Care Fortnight™ takes place between 10-23 May. This is The Fostering Network’s annual commitment to raise awareness of fostering and to celebrate the foster care community. As members of The Fostering Network, we are happy to get involved with Foster Care Fortnight each year to encourage the whole country to learn more about foster care in their community and to…
In our ‘5 minutes with’ column, we chat with new foster carer Doreen who gives insight into her inspiration to become a foster carer and what the fostering assessment process is like. If you’ve been interested in becoming a foster carer then this is a must read for background on the key steps in the application process, and the commitment…
We thought we’d gather together a few reasons why foster carers chose the career path to give you insight into this important keyworker role. After last year, many people have started to have thoughts about their current job and circumstances which has led them to search for a role with meaning. People have placed a lot more focus on supporting…
There’s no doubt that 2020 has been a challenge. However, if there’s a positive to stem from this year it is the sense of community we have witnessed. From the inspiring images of clapping for the NHS, to assisting neighbours with their food shop, and appreciating the socially distanced cups of tea with friends and family. The start of 2021…
Many of the young people in foster care are teenagers. This requires a special individual to provide the right care and support. To be a good foster carer is about being empathetic, understanding and caring as well as good communication skills to help a teenager develop. The life experiences foster carers have can help guide an individual to make the…
We often get asked about ages of children that need fostering. In short, we foster all children from the very young up to the age of 18. Whoever is in need of support and care at an incredibly vulnerable time, we are there. At OwnLife Fostering the majority of young people placed with our foster carers are aged 10+, although…
The decision to become a foster carer is a long process. It’s a commitment from the first moment you think that it could be the career for you. Then you take time to research and make enquiries with fostering agencies to discuss further. If you’re one of these people that have just started the journey of this thought process then…