Fostering
Redbridge Fostering Team need more Foster Carers!
Want to find out more?
Get in touch
- if you’re free now, why not give us a call on 0208 708 6068
- visit Local Community Fostering website to complete a short form, or
- Book a place on our next virtual information session at 10am until 11am on Friday 18 July 2025
Redbridge Fostering Team are part of the Local Community Fostering Service - a network of four northeast London boroughs with an ambition to inspire more people from all walks of life, to become foster carers.
We want to hear from you whether you’re just considering fostering for the first time and want to find out a little more, or if you’re an experienced carer looking to transfer from an independent fostering agency. We pride ourselves in the diversity of our foster carers and are looking for carers from a variety of backgrounds regardless of age, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, marital or employment status.
With our increased allowances and specialist fostering pathways, there has never been a better time to join our team of foster carers and provide a safe, stable and nurturing environment to a baby, child or young person that they can call home.
Please visit the Local Community Fostering website and complete the short form, or call 0208 708 6068. A member of our friendly Local Fostering Community team will be in touch at a time convenient to you to have an initial chat about fostering with Redbridge.
Take a look at one of our amazing Redbridge foster carers of 24 years and her fostered child who were recently interviewed on BBC News and London Live and who also featured in Children and Young People Now, sharing how fostering has enriched and changed both of their lives:
Keep up to date by following Redbridge Fostering on Facebook
Want to find out more?
Get in touch
- if you’re free now, why not give us a call on 0208 708 6068
- visit Local Community Fostering website to complete a short form, or
- Book a place on our next virtual information session at 10am until 11am on Friday 18 July 2025
Why foster for Redbridge?
When a child in Redbridge needs to spend some time in foster care, the child's social worker will send a referral to the Redbridge Fostering Team and we will contact our Redbridge Council foster carers to see if they are able to welcome the child into their care. If our foster carers are unable to welcome the child (mainly due to them already having children in their care and no space for additional children), we will then contact an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) to see if they are able to place the child with one of their foster carers. Wherever possible, we try not to do this. We know our foster carers extremely well and know which foster carer would be a good match for the child needing to spend time in foster care. There is very close communication between Redbridge fostering supervising social workers (who support our foster carers) and the children’s social workers for a truly holistic approach for our children in care. Also, if we need to place a child with an IFA, we need to pay the IFA commission fees on top of the foster carers allowance which costs the Council more money.
Support and training
We are committed to providing our foster carers with excellent support and high levels of training. Currently we offer our carers a number of training courses each year across a variety of subjects including specific targeted training in behaviour management and caring for disabled children to support foster carers practice and in doing so, aiding the outcomes for our children in care.
As you are approved to foster, you will complete a Training, Support and Development Standards Portfolio (TSDS). This will require completion in your first year of fostering and is a mandatory requirement for all foster carers in the UK. Training and support will be provided to assist you in completing this portfolio.
We offer our carers a variety of support throughout their fostering career, including a dedicated Supervising Social Worker who can be contacted whenever you need additional support.
Other support includes:
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24 hour access to support through the Supervising Social Workers or from the Emergency Duty Team outside of office hours
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we offer new carers a fostering buddy for their first year of approval
- dedicated training programme for new foster carers
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monthly support groups for peer support from other foster carers
- male foster carers support group
- events run throughout the year to meet other foster carers
- Foster Carers Association - run by foster carers for foster carers
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we are always talking to our current foster carers and are open to ideas about redesigning our support and training services to ensure that they are what foster carers want
- membership for the Fostering Network
- support from a clinical psychologist
Benefits
Whilst money is not everything, we are committed to ensuring that our foster carers are paid enough to cover the costs involved in looking after a child:
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you could receive between £369.96 and £550.48 per child, per week. The exact amount paid to each foster carer is calculated on an individual basis according to the age of the child.
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we offer between £649.96 and £820.48 per child per week for foster carers who are caring for children or young people requiring a high level of care which include those who have a severe or profound disability, severe mental health needs or those with highly challenging behaviour, contextual safeguarding issues or if alternatively needing to be placed in a secure unit or residential care. An additional care package may also be available.
- we offer £1000 for parent and child placements and if the child or young person in the placement is a looked after by the Local Authority, the foster carer would also receive an additional allowance for the child or young person.
- we offer between £799.96 and £1130.48 per child per week for foster carers who care for children or young people who have been in residential accommodation and who are moving into foster care.
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we have the Mockingbird scheme, an extended family model, where carers and children regularly meet and where meaningful relationships within the group develop. Mockingbird provides additional support for our foster carers and the children in their care.
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there is a training bonus scheme depending on the level of training completed following on from your first year as a foster carer up to £200 per year
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you could receive up to an 80% council tax discount if occupancy conditions are met
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there is an additional allowances for Christmas/ Festival, Birthday and Holiday
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we offer a uniform allowance
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there are benefits for bedroom furniture provided for the child/children being looked after
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we pay a £1000 thank you if you refer a friend or family member and they are successfully approved as a foster carer
Information sessions and coffee mornings
Due to the ongoing pandemic, we will not be able to offer face to face information sessions. However, we will be offering virtual sessions.
We hold information sessions and information coffee mornings throughout the year for people interested in fostering. These give an overview of fostering, different types of placements, what fostering for Redbridge is like and gives you a chance to speak with a fostering social worker and a foster carer in an informal setting and ask any questions that you may have.
For more information on our upcoming events and to book a place to attend, click on the 'Book Now' link below.
Date | Time | Link to book a place |
Friday 18 July 2025
|
10am to 11am |
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Tuesday 5 August 2025
|
6pm to 7pm |
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Thursday 7 August 2025
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10am to 11am |
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Tuesday 9 September 2025
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6pm to 7pm |
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Additional information
Keep up to date by following Redbridge Fostering on Facebook
Find out more on the Redbridge Fostering Handbook