One of St Christopher’s strategic aims is improved emotional wellbeing for all the children and young people we look after. One way to achieve this is through having a stable, nurturing home, like the ones provided by our foster carers.

Each Foster Care Fortnight, we like to reflect on the successes and contributions of our foster carers over the last year. Foster parents look after around three quarters of children in care in the UK, so they play a vital role in making sure these young people have the opportunity to grow up in a secure, loving home.

St Christopher’s has two fostering services – one in the Eastern Region and one in the West Midlands. In both of these services around 75% of young people are on long-term placements. This means the care plan for these children and young people is to remain with their foster families until they are at least 18 years old and, where possible, live with them on a Staying Put arrangement once they are past that age.

This year has seen one of our foster carers adopt an older child, whilst other families are looking into special guardianship orders (SGOs) to look after a young person long-term and reassure them that they belong in their families.

With the help of the fostering teams, our carers are able to therapeutically parent children and young people and achieve positive change for their lives.

Find out how to start your journey to becoming a foster carer today.