Fostering in The Wirral

Foster carers have a unique opportunity to help children feel safe during difficult times. By offering a consistent home environment, everyday encouragement and emotional support, you can help a child develop confidence, build resilience and create positive memories that last a lifetime.

At Action for Children Fostering, we're looking for people throughout The Wirral who can provide local children with the care and understanding they need. Whether you live in a coastal community, a residential neighbourhood or one of the area's towns and villages, fostering enables you to make a meaningful difference while helping children remain connected to familiar surroundings.

You don't need previous experience to become a foster carer. What matters most is your willingness to learn, your commitment to helping children succeed and your ability to provide a safe and welcoming home.

If you have a spare bedroom and want to play an important role in a child's life, fostering could be an incredibly rewarding journey.

We understand that fostering involves significant time, commitment and responsibility. That's why we provide financial support designed to help foster carers focus on caring for children and young people.

Our fostering payments include both a fostering allowance and a fostering fee. The allowance helps with the everyday costs of raising a child, including food, clothing, transport and recreational activities. The fee recognises the essential role foster carers play and the skills required to support children effectively.

The payment you receive will vary depending on the type of fostering you undertake and the needs of the child placed with you. Additional support may also be available to assist with educational experiences, birthdays, holidays and other important occasions that contribute to a child's wellbeing.

Our aim is to ensure foster carers feel financially equipped to provide children with the opportunities, experiences and stability they deserve.

By helping with practical costs, we enable carers to concentrate on building strong relationships and positive futures for the children in their care.

Fostering is most successful when carers feel well supported, connected and confident. That's why we provide ongoing professional and practical support from the moment you begin your fostering journey.

Every foster carer is assigned a dedicated supervising social worker who will provide regular guidance, support visits and advice tailored to your circumstances. We work closely with our carers to ensure support remains responsive and personalised.

We also recognise the value of connecting with others who understand the rewards and challenges of fostering.

Our support includes:

• A dedicated supervising social worker
• Regular supervision and support meetings
• Foster carer support groups
• Opportunities to connect with experienced carers
• Access to specialist advice and expertise
• 24-hour support for urgent situations

Many foster carers tell us that sharing experiences with others helps them develop confidence and feel reassured when facing new situations. Being part of a wider fostering community can provide valuable encouragement throughout your journey.

Our priority is ensuring every foster carer feels supported and has access to help whenever it is needed.

We believe children deserve foster carers who feel knowledgeable, confident and well prepared for the role. That's why we provide a comprehensive programme of training and professional development.

Training begins before approval and continues throughout your fostering career. All learning opportunities are provided free of charge and are designed to help carers understand children's experiences and needs.

Skills to Foster

This introductory programme explores the fundamentals of fostering, covering attachment, child development, communication, safeguarding and understanding the foster carer role.

Therapeutic Parenting

Many children entering care have experienced significant challenges, including loss, trauma or instability. Therapeutic parenting training helps carers understand how these experiences affect children and introduces approaches that support emotional wellbeing and trust.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding training covers key topics including child protection, online safety, emotional wellbeing, health and recognising situations where children may need additional support.

Continuing Development

As your experience increases, you'll have access to additional training opportunities that allow you to expand your skills, develop specialist knowledge and respond effectively to different children's needs.

Our training programme is designed to support foster carers in providing nurturing, stable homes where children can thrive.

Many people assume fostering isn't something they could do, but foster carers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and circumstances.

In most cases, you may be eligible to foster if you:

• Are aged 21 or over
• Have a spare bedroom
• Have the right to live and work in the UK
• Can provide a safe and supportive home environment

We welcome enquiries from:

• Single people
• Couples and partners
• Parents and non-parents
• Homeowners and tenants
• Working professionals
• Retired individuals
• People from all cultural, ethnic and faith backgrounds
• Members of the LGBTQ+ community
• People living with disabilities

There is no ideal foster carer. Children need different types of homes, experiences and supportive adults who can meet their individual needs.

The qualities we value most are patience, empathy, resilience and a genuine desire to help children and young people flourish.

By becoming a foster carer in The Wirral, you could help a child feel safe, develop confidence and create opportunities for a brighter future.

Contact our The Wirral fostering team today to learn more about becoming a foster carer and how we can support you throughout every stage of your fostering journey.