Why foster?
We desperately need more foster carers in Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster as we have over 500 children in need of short-term or long-term care.
By opening up your heart and your home you can give our children a chance in life and the future they deserve. Give us your love and support and in exchange you will be rewarded with training, and one to one support and mentoring every step of the way.
You will earn a competitive fee, be provided with ample allowance to provide for all aspects of children in your care and receive extra allowances to help provide holidays and birthday presents for the child you are caring for as well as council tax reimbursement.
What is fostering?
- Looking after someone else’s child in your own home when they are unable to look after them
- Fostering placements may last for short periods to support a family through a crisis (a matter of days or weeks) or for longer periods of months or even years
- Some children who are unable to return to their birth families may be permanently fostered
- Providing a safe, stable and nurturing environment allowing children to thrive and develop
- Helping a child or young person to come to terms with difficult issues
- Helping children and young people to maintain contact with their birth families
- Working as part of a professional network to support plans for the child or young person
- A career and lifestyle choice
Fostering is not always easy. It can be challenging and stressful at times, but it can also be enormously rewarding and a lot of fun.
"The benefit for me is to see that I have made a difference, even if it is the tiniest bit of difference and you do get to see that, whether it’s a weekly event or years later."
Who will I be caring for?
Children and young people from birth to 18 years old may need temporary, or sometimes permanent support.
Children and young people in foster care come from a variety of backgrounds and ages. There are also children with disabilities, sibling groups and young parents with children.
Each child’s story is different and unique to them, although many children need a foster home for the following reasons:
- a temporary crisis in their family
- illness
- parents struggling to cope
- physical, sexual or emotional abuse
- neglect
- has been in trouble with the police and needs extra support outside their family
- drug or alcohol difficulties in the family
- violence in the family
