Greater London

Islington Fostering

There are not many careers that give you the opportunity of working from home and earning a good allowance but still as a member of a supporting and friendly professional team, providing constant support and regular training. And how many give you the chance to really make a difference to a child’s life?

Islington Foster carers offer high quality, loving care for other people's children in their own home. The time a child may stay vary, it may be for a day, a month, or even a year or more. Other placements may lead to the carers adopting the child or the young person staying until they move on to live independently.

Some people believe they would not be eligible to foster and there are many myths about who can be a foster carer such as they must be married or own a large house, which is far from the truth. There is in fact no standard foster carer. Just like the rest of us they come from many different cultures and backgrounds with varied beliefs and customs. Some foster carers may already have children and still have space for another child while others have children that have grown up and left home.

You don’t need formal qualifications to be an Islington foster carer but you do need to be good with children and young people, be able to keep them healthy and safe and to help them make good progress at school. This also means you must have a good standard of both spoken and written English. People who want to become foster carers need to go through short preparation training and assessment with a social worker. Part of the training will require group sessions where you learn about the needs of the children coming into foster care as well as the support and skills to deal with them.

Not only do you get the satisfaction of helping a child you benefit from a monthly support group, regular supervision and 24-hour support, along with generous allowances in expenses and rewards to help give children an excellent start in life, or to help them to catch up on what they have missed out on.

To make the difference please call Islington Fostering on 0800 073 0428, or send an email to fostering@islington.gov.uk