Types of fostering
Respite, bridging and emergency fostering
Respite foster care
Could you provide a child with a one-off or regular break?
Respite is provided to give parents, or other foster carers a break or offer additional support.
As a respite carer you might look after children for regular weekends, a week in the school holidays or the occasional 'one-off'. It’s a way of being able to foster even if you work full time or have other commitments.
Bridging foster carer
Could you care for a child for a few days or weeks?
Sometimes children are moving to live with carers who cannot accommodate them straight away. We need to find somewhere else for their care for a set period of time. The child or children may then move onto adoption, or long-term foster care elsewhere.
Emergency placements
Could you care for a child in an emergency?
We have a rota of foster carers who have a spare room available for a child at short notice, with contact sometimes out of office hours. You would need to have some experience as a foster carer or relevant transferrable skills before offering to join the rota.
It’s making children feel part of a family. If we can give them good memories or a feeling of love, that’s what goes with them.
Anja – foster carer
