Become part of Cumbria`s biggest family…

Talk to any of our foster carers and they'll tell you about the rewards and satisfaction fostering gives them. Helping to make even a small difference to a child's life is hugely satisfying.

It could be improving their attendance at school. It could be seeing them smile for the first time or the spark of inspiration in their eyes when you take them on their first day trip. Right now in Cumbria, you are living near to children who need your help.

We believe that all children and young people have the right to be healthy, happy and safe; to be loved, valued and respected; and to have high hopes for their future.

We already support over 275 foster families, but with over 725 children needing foster families we're always looking for more people to join in. If you have room to spare in your home and a lifestyle that has room for a child, then why not become part of Cumbria's biggest family?

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If you're thinking about fostering then we'd love to help.

Regional Fostering Recruitment and Retention Hub announcement

Cumbria Fostering is excited to announce that Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council are among five local authorities, alongside Blackburn, Blackpool and Lancashire, that have been awarded £1.2m to be a pathfinder for a Regional Fostering Recruitment and Retention Hub. A pathfinder will help others learn how to successfully implement these regional approaches nationally.

When care is the best choice for a child, it is critical that the care system provides stable, loving homes close to children's communities. Homes that provide consistency, stability and warmth.

In the Government's response to the Independent Review of Children's Social Care, and CMA markets study, Stable Homes, Built on Love, DfE have pledged to put love, relationships, and a stable home at the heart of being a child in care.

The way we currently plan, commission and provide homes for children in care is not working. This means too often children are living far from where they would call home or in the wrong type of home for what they need. We need to transform the way we provide homes for children, so they are the right homes in the right places.

To start changing the way we provide stable, loving homes for children in care, over the next two years the government has pledged to deliver a fostering recruitment and retention programme so foster care is available for more children who need it, investing over £27 million over the next two years.

 Our intention is to build upon regional relationships to achieve our regional shared vision for foster care; to have a foster care recruitment service that meaningfully supports, enables and empowers our foster carers to care for all our children in local stable loving family homes.

To address these issues, and others, our Hub will develop and implement a targeted communications strategy to further reach into our communities. The campaign will utilise different digital marketing techniques to reach younger carers from more diverse cultures, with a greater mix of skills and life experiences.  The pathway has been funded by the DofE until April 2025.