Children come into care for a variety of reasons, but they all deserve to have a loving, safe home where they can thrive and reach their potential. Foster parents who open their heart and home to children offer them the stability that they need to live normal, happy lives.
There’s a national shortage of foster parents across the whole of the UK, including in the North East of England. Fostering People are passionate about providing great quality, local support to our families so that they’re able to offer their young people the love and dedication that they deserve.
Do you have what it takes to foster with us in the North East?
A national shortage of foster parents
There’s an estimated 82,000 children in care across the UK, with around 6,000 of them in the North East alone. It’s also estimated that there are only 33,435 fostering households across the UK at the end of March 2025, which is a 10% decline since the year 2021. In the year between 1 April 2024 to the year ending March 2025, there was a 5% decline in foster families across the North East.
Each and every child deserves to have a loving home where they feel like they belong. Foster parents play such a huge role in giving these children the positive start in life that they need to create brighter futures. No matter what type of fostering you choose to offer, whether that’s short-term, long-term, or emergency fostering, you can make a real difference to the children that you welcome into your home.
Fostering requirements
There’s no such thing as a typical foster parent. As long as you’ve got lots of love to give to children in need, you can be the perfect fit for the role. All you need to become a foster parent is:
- Be over the age of 21
- Have a spare bedroom for your foster child to call their own
- Have the legal right to live and work in the UK
If you’re curious about fostering but don’t know where to begin, contact us to find out more. Our friendly team can talk you through the application process as well as answer any questions you have, including any queries about who can foster.
Different types of fostering
There are several different types of fostering that you can offer if you have a spare room in your home for a foster child. These include:
- Short-term – this type of fostering can last for between a day and several weeks, up to two years.
- Long-term – a more permanent solution that sees a child live with you for over or more than two years up until they reach the age of 18.
- Staying put – once a teenager has reached the age of 18 but isn’t quite ready to spread their wings, you can care for them until they turn 21.
- Sibling groups – keeping siblings together can have a wonderfully positive impact on their experience in care. If you’ve got more than one spare room in your home, you could help maintain their connection by fostering a sibling group.
- Short break or respite care – often planned in advance, this gives children a safe, loving temporary place to stay while their main foster parents take a short break.
- Emergency fostering – this type of fostering can happen fairly quickly, so you may not get a lot of notice if a young person needs to be placed into your care at the last minute. You can be there for them at a tumultuous period of their lives and support them when they need it most.
- Disability fostering – children with additional needs sometimes require specialist care. This type of fostering will see you caring for children who may have autism, physical disabilities, learning difficulties, or medical conditions.
- Parent and child fostering – keeping a parent together with their child is an incredibly rewarding type of fostering. This offers more personalised support, where you can teach the mother or father the parenting skills they’ll need to thrive as a family.
- Sanctuary seeking fostering – young unaccompanied asylum seekers who have been separated from their family need a loving home here in the UK. You can support them at a pivotal point in their lives.
Why you should foster with Fostering People in the North East
At Fostering People, we’re passionate about offering our hard-working foster parents the support they need at each stage of their fostering journey. Some of the support that you’ll receive from Fostering People includes:
- A dedicated supervising social worker – you’ll be allocated a dedicated supervising social worker with a realistic case load, so you know they’ll always be there for you when you need them.
- Committed professional teams – as a foster parent with us, you’ll have access to a wide range of professionals, including social workers, therapists, education experts, and more.
- Regular support groups – alongside a dedicated support group for new foster parents, you’ll also have the opportunity to attend regular support groups with like-minded foster parents, including Foster Parent Forums and Reflective Practice Groups.
- Access to a 24/7 helpline – whenever you need help, no matter what day or time it is, we’re here to support you.
- Fun events for all of the family – there’s always something going on locally in your area, whether that’s day trips, picnics, or other activities. We try and organise things for all the family so everyone can get involved in the fun.
- Short break foster care – if you ever need to take a short break from fostering, we’ll arrange for the children in your care to have a sleepover with another family. You’ll get up to 14 days of respite a year should you wish to take it.
- Membership to Foster Talk – all of our foster parents get a free subscription to Foster Talk, an independent organisation that offers impartial advice and support for fostering professionals, including a range of other benefits such as insurance and discounts.
Make the most of local support
One of the biggest benefits to choosing Fostering People as your agency is that you can make the most of local support. In the North East, we cover a wide range of areas, from Northumberland to Middlesborough. All of our staff live and work in the communities that they serve, so you’ll know that support is just a phone call away.
We work with all the local authorities across the North East region, so our foster parents are in high demand to match with children in need of a loving home, and who are best suited to their needs. We believe that better outcomes are made possible by building lasting connections, so you can create safe, loving bonds with the children in your care.
Rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted
Don’t just take our word for it as to why you should foster with us. We’ve been consistently rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted since 2013 across all areas of our service, so you’ll know you’re in safe hands with us. That makes us one of the very best independent fostering agencies that you can choose to foster with in the North East.
In our latest inspection, Ofsted praised Fostering People for the overall experiences and progress of children and young people, how well children and young people are helped and protected, and for the effectiveness of leaders and managers.
Our Ofsted report said: “The ongoing support provided for foster parents ensures that each placement match is given the best possible chance to succeed. Careful matching and consistent support mean that placements are successful overall.”
“There are a relatively low number of unplanned endings, given the size of the service. In many instances, foster parents have said that they have been able to continue to care for children in the most difficult circumstances due to the amazing support they receive from the agency.”
Making a difference to those in need
The work you do as a foster parent has an immediate impact on the children in your care. That’s why we want to ensure you have the support you need at each stage of your journey.
Dennis and Linda foster in the North East with Fostering People, and they said: “The support we have received from Fostering People has been excellent. Our social worker is very helpful and supportive and we’ve really appreciated the knowledge that we can call any time, day or night. It gives us great confidence to know that there’s always someone ready to support us.”
Julie and Steve also foster in the North East. They said: “We applied to Fostering People as we liked the way the company was established and agreed with its principles. We liked their approach; working within the local community. We know all the staff that work in the North East and the support we’ve been given has been second to none. I particularly like the fact that training and support groups are all held close to where we live.”
Start your fostering career today
Do you have what it takes to foster with us? No matter if that’s in the North East or elsewhere in England, Fostering People are here to help you take that all important first step on your fostering journey.
Get in touch with us today via our enquiry form, or give us a call on 0800 077 8159 to speak to one of our friendly advisors. They can answer any questions you have and talk to you about the application process in more detail.
If you’re curious about starting your new career in fostering, give us a call today.
