Find out if you could be a foster carer
In a few simple questions, you’ll know if you’re suitable to apply to become a foster carer.
There are many children and young people who need fostering in Durham and the surrounding area. To our foster carers, we offer locally-delivered training, 24/7 support, peer support, and the opportunity to be the best you can be in your role.
If you’re considering becoming a foster carer, choose to work with a fostering agency that has local teams who will support your every step.
National Fostering Group is the largest independent fostering agency in the UK with superb agency coverage across all regions – meaning you have the support of a team close to you.
We are the leading fostering agency in County Durham and work in partnership with the local authority to place children and young people in homes where they can thrive.
As a foster carer for the National Fostering Group, you’ll have unparalleled access to professional support and excellent free training in your local area. We want you to thrive too, being the best you can be in your role as foster carer.
In addition, you’ll have access to a large and active peer network that includes several local support groups.
Since we started fostering we’ve never looked back. It has given me a new lease of life and made me feel a lot younger.
As a carer, Reach Out Care will equip you with all the tools you need to offer children and young people with skills that will bring them best opportunities for life. This foster agency will be there to support you and help you give youngsters the happy and independent childhood that they deserve. Reach Out Care wants the process of becoming a foster carer a fulfilling and rewarding experience and will be there to offer training and support to make this so.
Our average foster carer pay is around £24,500 a year (£2,040 on average per month), which is far higher than the government’s recommended weekly allowance. For most foster carers in Durham, this will be tax free! Some types of fostering placement pay more than £35,000 a year. Foster carer pay doesn’t affect state benefits you’re currently receiving.
If you think you’d like to become a foster carer in Durham, your next step is to have a chat. You can book a call by using our enquiry form. After this, if you decide to go ahead with an application, this usually takes around 16 weeks and we’ll help you every step of the way. We’ll help you decide what types of fostering you want to do and we’ll even get you started with foster carer training.
We are looking for foster carers in Durham. We welcome people from ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds, physical abilities and the LGBT+ community. You can be single, married, a homeowner or a tenant. Your ability to care for and nurture a child is what really matters. If you’ve worked in sectors like education, the emergency services, care or healthcare, you’ll be especially suited to this role.
Our foster carers come from all walks of life. With training, support and a generous fostering allowance, they provide homes where children can thrive and experience the childhood they deserve. More than 8,000 new foster carers are needed UK-wide to provide homes for children in need of a foster family. If you’re thinking of becoming a foster carer, now’s the time.
Source: The Fostering Network
The best part of my role is seeing the foster carers who, to begin with, may lack confidence or feel they are not doing things quite right, blossom into fostering experts. Seeing the bonds develop between the children and foster families makes everything we do worth it.
Around 3,750 children live with a foster family in the North East. There are approximately 45,370 fostering households and 76,640 foster carers in England.
Sources: Department for Education, Ofsted
Hundreds of children are currently fostered or waiting to find foster parents in County Durham and across the North.
National Fostering Group has a local office in Newton Aycliffe that also covers Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Barnard Castle, Washington, Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne.
