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Talk to us about becoming a foster carer

Interested in looking after children in your home on a short and long term basis? Fill out the form below to learn more about fostering.

Launch a rewarding career in child care

If you live in a loving, stable home and would like to offer a vulnerable child a safe place to stay, becoming a foster carer could be for you. Foster carers are paid to look after children who are temporarily or permanently unable to live with their birth families. They are child care experts working with a team of professionals to give children a brighter and happier future.

Why foster?

Fostering is not just a career, it is a role that blends into and enriches your everyday life. It gives you flexibility and you can work from home. In some cases, it is possible to combine fostering with other work, too, depending on the needs of the children in your care. The main reason why people foster is because it is extremely rewarding. Still, it can be challenging, so we invest in our carers with a full support package:

24/7 professional support

Our out of hours support workers are second to none. As a tight-knit team, we know the background of all our foster families, so no matter who picks up the phone, you’ll be in the best possible hands.  

Specialist training

Being a foster carer is hugely rewarding but also brings challenges. We run weekly in-person training sessions to help our foster carers build the skills and confidence they need on their fostering journey.

Financial support

As part of a social enterprise and independent provider, we offer a highly competitive fostering allowance, upwards of £382 per child per week. For almost all foster carers, this will be tax free.

Activities and respite

Our carers are ordinary people doing an extraordinary job. We’re able to arrange short breaks and respite care and regular activities for foster children to make sure you can keep up with the demands of life beyond fostering.

Can I foster?

There are some basic criteria you’ll need to meet to be considered as a foster carer with The Fostering Company, you will need to:

  • Be passionate about making a difference for a child or young person
  • Be over the age of 21
  • Have a furnished spare room that is not used by anybody else
  • Be committed to undergo training and development
  • Be able to work in partnership with the team involved in caring for the child/young person
foster siblings together

Support that’s local to you

We know how important relationships are. Having a local office means:

  • Less travel and more face to face time with our supportive team
  • Opportunities to join local events in the North East
  • The chance to form close relationships with other local foster carers

If you want to know more about fostering with us, click below to get in touch with our Carer Enquiries Team for more information.

Enquire to foster

Meet our foster carers

Want to know what it’s like to walk a day in the shoes of a Safehouses foster carer? Hear from one of our brilliant foster parents in the video below.

See what our foster parents say about fostering with us…

"The aim is to help these children grow up in a stable loving home, whether that’s for a short or long period of time."

Amanda

"These relationships with social workers and foster carers, I believe are crucial to children and young people’s experience and positive outcomes."

Lydia

"Fostering allows me to try and give a more permanent positive effect to a child’s life."

Erin
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We’re looking for foster carers near you...

  • County Durham
  • Gateshead
  • Newcastle
  • South Tyneside
  • Sunderland
  • North Tyneside
  • …and all areas in between

If you’d like to hear more, our Carer Enquiries Team are here to answer your questions. Please get in touch below!

FAQs

Want to know more about fostering with The Fostering Company? Head to our frequently asked questions page to find answers to some of the issues our team gets asked about.

Pay and allowances

It is our responsibility to ensure our carers are equipped with the resources they need to offer a safe and loving home. That’s why we pay our foster carers a generous fostering allowance so they can focus on giving their foster child the best possible care.