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Welcome to Next Step Fostering

Next Step Fostering is an independent agency founded in 1989, providing National Fostering Group services in Kent, East London, Surrey, Slough and London boroughs. With more than 50 foster carers on our register, we provide high quality foster care for more than 115 children and young people.

Office Details

Faversham Office:

Address
41 Stone Street
Faversham
Kent
ME13 8PH

General email
[email protected]

Social Media

Opening Hours

  • Mon - Fri 9am-5pm

East London office:
Oakhouse
5A Wellington Road
Wanstead London
E11 2AN

Croydon office:
127 Addington Road
Selsdon
Surrey
CR2 8LH

Thames Valley Team:
Our Thames Valley team work from home.
In-person support groups take place in Burnham, near Slough.

Faversham – 01795 521 739
Croydon – 020 8768 3888
East London – 01708 209 227
Thames Valley – 01628 661 649

Who are Next Step Fostering?

Next Step is a well-established medium-sized agency committed to providing a comprehensive level of care for foster children and fostering families across our region. This is reflected in the fact that many foster carers have been with the agency for a long time and so, too, have many of its staff.

The agency was founded by a family who had looked after foster children. Our head office is in Faversham and we have additional offices in Wanstead and Croydon, with staff and carers also located in the Thames Valley area. We were rated as OUTSTANDING in our most recent Ofsted assessment.

I’m really proud to work for Next Step. It was founded by a family that fostered themselves and this personal touch is reflected in everything we do. We are totally child-focused and offer a high level of support to foster carers. 

We also particularly appreciate and value the role played by birth children, because we recognise that people foster as a family, so if birth children are not fully on board and happy then it doesn’t work. 

Our supervising social workers spend time working with birth children and foster children, ensuring they have the right level of support.

Mary Cattell, Practice Manager

Our foster carers can claim a wide range of perks and benefits, like free membership to The Fostering Network, Max Cards, high street discounts, invitations to family activities and events, and much more.

People from all walks of life become foster carers. You can help to inspire a generation of vulnerable children and young people to find their way in the world and help us build an incredible future for them. If you’re interested in becoming a foster carer with Next Step, please get in touch with us today.

OFSTED report

Download our reports
We have informative guides for children and young people aged between 5 - 10 and 11 - 18 you may find interesting.

About Next Step Fostering

High standards

We set high standards for foster carers and we’re proud of the way we foster children and fostering families develop and grow. We regard a warm and inclusive family home as the best possible environment for foster children and celebrate their achievements, however small.

Children’s activities

We hold regular activity days for foster children and birth children, as well as regular engagement and wellbeing groups. Throughout lockdown, our staff went out of their way to ensure children had access to plenty of online resources, including quizzes, singing and even a virtual Christmas party. A children’s champion helped to ensure support was made available to any children who were feeling isolated and acted as their advocate.

Support for carers

We offer generous allowances to our fostering families, including a holiday allowance and provision for up to 16 nights’ respite throughout the year. Foster carers benefit from an out-of-hours service provided by our agency team, so they can speak to someone who knows them and their family 24/7. Alongside the support of their supervising social worker, foster carers can access the agency’s in-house counsellor any time they need it. Foster carer support groups meet regularly and all foster carers benefit from membership of The Fostering Network for expert advice and support.

Specialist training

We believe it is vital to equip foster carers with the skills they need to care for looked after children and young people and we provide a comprehensive training package, including specialist therapeutic training and a range of e-learning options.

Empathy

Our Practice Manager spent many years working as a foster carer herself, as well as working within the local authority, and can empathise with many of the difficulties fostering families face. She can also challenge, where necessary, and help foster carers to tap into their individual skills and build their confidence. She believes many of the best foster carers are those who have faced challenges in their own life, as this gives them a resilience and understanding to support looked after children in the best possible way.

Building on strong foundations

Having been family-run for many years, we have a friendly, personal approach that foster carers and staff value highly. Managers communicate regularly with fostering families and staff and there is a culture of honesty, transparency and equality. As part of the National Fostering Group, we believe we will be able to build on our strong foundations, expanding our services for foster carers through additional educational and psychological support.

Listen to our carer Amalia in our latest episode of our Voices of Fostering Podcast

 

Meet our team

Office Updates

  • 25 Years of Fostering with Next Step
    We recently celebrated a very special milestone at Next Step with Sharon and Norman Jones who have been foster carers with us for 25 years! Sharon and Norman have dedicated the last quarter of a century to fostering, and continue to offer a safe and loving home to the young people currently in their care. Staff and carers gathered together at our Faversham Head office in order to congratulate Sharon and Norman. Clement Deniran, Registered Manager at Next Step, spoke warmly of the couple’s unwavering devotion to their roles as foster carers, and lots of our other carers told us how inspiring and supportive Sharon and Norman had been to them as they began their fostering journeys. “People often think that being a foster carer is the same as being a parent, and we do try to make it like that for our young people, but it’s also a job – we can’t make all the decisions for the young people in our care like parents can, but we still try to do whatever we can that a parent would do for their own children”. Said Sharon. Sharon and Norman said that foster care is very rewarding and the couple have loved keeping in touch with all the young people who have come to live with them over the years, even when they’ve moved on and had children of their own. “It’s what you’d do for your own children, that’s how we’ve always approached the job”.
  • Next Step Fostering – Treat day, just for our Carers!
    We treated our hard-working, dedicated foster carers from our Croydon support group to a fun afternoon at Emma’s Pottery Parlour in West Wickham. The carers who came along on the day said they felt relaxed and calmed by the creative experience, and told us that it was refreshing to meet and chat with other carers somewhere other than our usual support group venue, allowing them to take a well-earned break from their busy schedules. Each carer chose their own pot to decorate however they wished. We were so impressed by their artistic skills! Well done everybody.
  • Port Lympne Safari Park
    Thanks to Mary, Tracey and Fidelia from the Next Step Faversham office for organising an exciting day out at Port Lympne Safari park for our Kent-based foster carers and their children. The children who came along ranged in age from 3 years to 16 years old and they all had a great time. Our staff and foster carers were put to the test by the children by having to race all the way up those steps!! Driving through “Africa” in the safari truck turned out to be rather wet and windy, but lots of fun was had by all.
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