Blogs

Welsh foster carer Meleri shares her experiences of being approved as a foster carer during the Covid19 pandemic.

By Dom-tFN on May 21st, 2021

Martin Leworthy started fostering, together with his wife, in 2005. Since then, they have fostered 15 young people. Martin is also a trustee of The Fostering Network.

By Dom-tFN on May 20th, 2021

Director of The Fostering Network in Scotland, Sara Lurie, reflects on how foster carers have risen to the challenge of caring for children throughout a global pandemic.

By Dom-tFN on May 19th, 2021

Greg De Smidt is a registered manager for a small independent fostering provider with over 20 years-experience in the UK fostering sector. He has worked across the statutory, independent and charitable sectors and held senior management roles in England and Scotland. He is also a trustee at The Fostering Network.

By Dom-tFN on May 17th, 2021

My name is Catherine and I am a kinship foster carer in Northern Ireland and I would like to share with you a bit about what fostering has been like for me. 

By karina a on May 13th, 2021

Fostering involves many different people who all contribute to make sure that children in care can thrive. Janet Smith, trustee of The Fostering Network since 2015 and chair of the board since 2020, has played different roles in the lives of young people throughout her life. Here she shares her story with fostering and how it all began.

By karina a on May 13th, 2021

The Fostering Network have been running the Keep Connected campaign since 2015. Through this campaign we hope to create lasting change in the way that local authorities and fostering services plan and support contact between children and their former foster carers.

By karina a on May 12th, 2021

My name is Jasmine and I wanted to share with you what I have achieved since living with my aunt and uncle. I am 14 years old and have been living with my aunt and uncle for 10 years. Throughout this time I have accomplished a lot of things and have been given many opportunities by The Fostering Network, all of which I am extremely grateful for. 

By karina a on May 6th, 2021

As of 31 March 2020 there were 2,673 children living with foster families in Northern Ireland. Around 35 per cent of those children are in kinship placements. To put it simply a kinship placement is when a child goes to live with a member of their family or close friend who must be approved by their local trust.

Behind those numbers are real people. I am one of them.

By karina a on May 6th, 2021

Well what a year it’s been!

I did not expect us to be running Foster Care Fortnight virtually for the second year in a row but here we are and as CEO of The Fostering Network I am writing to say a huge thank you for all of your fostering efforts over the last year.

By karina a on May 6th, 2021