Blogs

The UK General Election takes place on 8 June, and despite the short notice it is nevertheless an important opportunity to both raise the profile, and campaign to improve, foster care.
By Policy and Campaigns tFN on May 5th, 2017
Judith Dennis is policy manager at the Refugee Council. In this blog she shares the Refugee Council's experience of working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Judith will be speaking at our West Midlands conference on 23 May.
By Foster Care Fortnight on May 5th, 2017

Professor Claire Cameron and Katie Hollingworth (Twitter - @IOE_TCRU) work at the Thomas Coram Research Unit and specialise in research studies of children in care, foster care, and young people leaving care. Here they explain about a project they are undertaking to explore how to recruit more men to become foster carers.

By Daniel.Sinclairtfn on April 8th, 2017

Sarah Jones is a foster carer with Foster Swansea and a foster carer ambassador with The Fostering Network. Sarah was invited to speak at the National Fostering Framework conference in March. In this blog Sarah shares the key parts of her speech.

By DavidEggboro on April 3rd, 2017

In this blog, Sarah Morgan, Specialist Advisor for Education and Children's Social Care, at The Shropshire Academy and Learning Trust, explores the concept and possible impact of keeping secrets within foster families.

By Daniel.Sinclairtfn on March 23rd, 2017

Foster carer Dianne features in our new BBC appeal that aired on Northern Ireland television today. The film called for more people to consider fostering and change the lives of more children in care. It also looked at Step Up Step Down, which is a pioneering project, run by The Fostering Network in partnership with the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust and funded by the Big Lottery, aiming to prevent children who are on the periphery of the care system from being taken into care. Dianne tells us more about her work with Step Up Step Down and her experiences being a foster carer.

By Rochelle Bisson on March 15th, 2017

Joseph is a 23-year-old care leaver who features in The Fostering Network’s new BBC appeal calling for more people to consider becoming foster carers. The appeal will air in Northern Ireland on BBC One at 3.45pm during Community Life. In preparation for the appeal, we asked Joseph to expand on his transformative experience of foster care.

By Rochelle Bisson on March 15th, 2017

In her latest blog, author Cathy Glass addresses what to do when the children and young people you are caring for develop bad language or unwelcome habits.

By Cathy Glass on March 4th, 2017

Rosemary Mazzone is a recently retired foster carer from Ramsey on the Isle of Man who was awarded the British Empire Medal last year for services to youth and the community and gained the accolade of the Pride in Mann Community Champion award in 2015.

Here Rosemary tells us about her dedication to her community, the children she looked after and her advice for prospective foster carers.

By DavidEggboro on February 16th, 2017
The day, when it arrives is cold and wet, unremarkable in many ways for January. But this day is remarkable because it’s the day that’s been looming over us for six months. It’s the day of our foster son’s substantive interview at the Home Office.
By Lucy Stevens on February 3rd, 2017