One of TACT’s foster carers has been featured in an episode of The One Show.
Dan chatted to former Olympian Fatima Whitbread, who was in care herself as a child, about various schemes and initiatives that have the potential to support existing foster carers, whilst also attracting new carers.
One of these initiatives is the establishment of ‘fostering friendly’ workplaces.
Many people dismiss fostering because they already have a full-time job. Fostering friendly workplaces offer foster carers additional support, such as more annual leave, to help with fostering commitments.
Dan spoke about fostering whilst retaining a full-time job. He got additional leave to attend training and meetings: “I think it is just the time commitment – every child will have several meetings that you have to attend that will always be during the working week.
“In the past if I was to go on a mandatory training course for first aid, I would have taken a day’s holiday to do that, whereas now I can take that day off work and use my holiday with the children which is much more beneficial.”
John Lewis is one of 160 fostering friendly companies currently in the UK. Dame Sharon White, who is the current Chair of The John Lewis Partnership, talked about its new initiative: “If a foster carer has more support, not only is it incredibly motivating for your people, but actually it creates real engagement and real loyalty to the business – before you know it, we’ve made real impact.”
It is clear that offering flexibility for your foster-caring workforce benefits both employee and business. Staff are granted more time to spend with the young people in their care, and employers gain staff loyalty.
TACT are proud to be one of the 160 UK organisations listed as being fostering friendly. If you are currently working and are interested in becoming a foster carer, we encourage you to enquire with TACT to discuss your individual circumstances in more detail to understand how fostering could work for you.
Read more about fostering friendly workplaces.
