Up to £3,000 for you.
Priceless opportunities for our children.

We’re rewarding newly approved foster carers and successful transfers with a bonus of up to £3,000, for giving vulnerable children priceless opportunities to fulfil their potential.

We’re rewarding newly approved foster carers and successful transfers with a bonus of up to £3,000, for giving vulnerable children priceless opportunities to fulfil their potential.

How can you receive the cash bonus?

We are offering up to £3000 to anyone who is successful in becoming a Foster Carer for The Children’s Family Trust.

You will receive a £750 bonus when you become an approved carer, and a further £750–£2,250 bonus following first placement/transfer, depending on experience.

In order to start the process of your application to foster, you must ensure the following:

  • You have a spare bedroom
  • You are 21+ years old
  • You are a full-time resident in the UK

Ready to speak with your local regional team to learn more?

Why foster with us?

Unlike big agencies, we’re a charity dedicated to ensuring the perfect match between carer and child, prioritising the well-being and needs of you and every child in our care. It’s about quality over quantity.

With this in mind, we have the resources to provide ongoing in-house support, guidance, and care for both our carers and our looked after children. This includes our own highly experienced psychotherapist.

Here at The CFT our ethos is ‘family for life’. This represents our commitment to any child within our care, regardless of how long they are looked after by us. The CFT strives to support our fostered child throughout their life, often into adulthood.

We're a charity.
A charitable organisation has a single aim – to operate exclusively for the benefit of the public and not for profit. A minimum of 85p in every £1 goes directly to improving our services to both our children and foster carers.
No shortcuts, no compromises.
Many agencies only reimburse mileage after the first 20 miles of a trip, meaning you can’t claim expenses on shorter trips, like school drop-offs and similar journeys. We cover the full mileage of every journey you need to make for your foster child.
You talk, we listen.
We regularly engage and conduct surveys for our carers and cared for children to understand how we can offer even more support. We prioritise listening to our CFT family because we believe in quality over quantity, and we’re committed to ensuring that everyone feels valued and fulfilled.

Fostering is a career and should be treated as such. We believe our carers should benefit financially for everything they do.

  • We pay our foster carers a highly competitive rate that is often increased
  • £750 bonus when approved as a carer, £750–£2,250 bonus following first placement, depending on experience
  • Any travel required regarding your role as a foster carer can be reclaimed in full
  • Take advantage of significant tax relief
  • Paid respite
  • Long-service payments
  • Child achievement payments

We deeply appreciate the dedication our foster carers put into creating a safe and nurturing environment for every child who enters their home. So we’re here to help, every step of the way.

  • All carers are linked with an experience Supervising Social Worker – who provides supervision and support for carers and their families
  • Supervising Social Workers visit our carers regularly to help and to talk through any problems
  • Monthly Foster Carer Support meetings, face-to-face
  • We have a 24/7 out-of-hours phone support service so you are always able to speak to a social worker when needed
  • We provide regular individual therapeutic consultations with our experienced psychotherapist for all of our foster carers
  • Become part of our friendly, local, supportive network, that meet regularly to share information and learn from each other
  • Planned days out for fostering families

Our mission is to create a lasting, positive impact for the children and carers we support across the UK.

We provide our foster carers with the skills and resources needed to offer therapeutic care, helping them make a meaningful difference in a child’s life.

  • Skills 2 Foster
  • Therapeutic Reflection Consultations
  • De-Esculation Training
  • Diversity in Practice
  • First Aid
  • Loss and Bereavement Training
  • Safeguarding & Child Protection Training

And many more optional courses…

If you’re considering becoming a foster carer, it’s important to understand the different types of fostering. Speak to us about your requirements and we can advise what is right for you.

  • Short break
  • Short-term
  • Long-term
  • Short notice
  • Parent & Child
  • Staying Put
"The day we spoke to the team at The CFT we knew we would resume our fostering journey together with them. It soon became clear that The CFT valued their carers as professionals and the level of support would be high for us, members of the family and most importantly for the foster children. The staff are approachable and helpful and we valued their ethos of ‘Family for Life’."
family girl and boy
Mandy & Ken
Foster Carers of 12 years

Make a Be the difference

Make a     Be the     difference

We need you. There is currently an acute national shortage of foster carers, which is impacting the ability of all UK agencies and local authorities to find suitable families for our most vulnerable children.

There is no better time to support The Children’s Family Trust with our mission to ensure every child has the right to a safe and caring home; a nurturing environment within which they can be free to dream their dreams, develop their talents, achieve their potential and enjoy their lives to the full.

children are in foster care across England and Wales

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children ceased to be looked after

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of children looked after live with foster carers

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Get to know The Children's Family Trust

Get to know The Children's Family Trust

We are an independent fostering charity with almost 80 years of experience.

We aim to achieve stability and security for our children and young people, helping them to develop their talents and skills, achieve their potential and make the most of the opportunities available to them.

Are you ready to provide priceless opportunities?

Are you ready to provide priceless opportunities?

If you’re considering becoming a Foster Carer and you want to receive up to £3,000 as a bonus upon becoming an approved carer with us – then get in touch via the form.

Be sure to share your accurate location so your local team can support you with any questions you may have.

If you are being referred by an existing CFT Foster Carer, please reference their name in the relevant field.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Your interview - What you need to know.
If you’ve been invited to an interview, it’s your chance to meet us, tell us about yourself, and take a step towards building your incredible career.
Your interview is your opportunity to learn more about us.
So come prepared with your questions. Plus its our opportunity to get to know you, understand your motivation to work in this sector and get a good understanding of your experience and background.
The first step.
Is either a face to face interview carried out in person or via TEAMS. If you’re successful, the next stage is a more formal interview with at least two members of our team. At least one of the interview panel will have been trained in the NSPCC safer recruitment standards.
You might be invited for a second interview.
Or we might ask you to prepare a presentation or other sample of work. Think about what the role requires and prepare to show you’re a great fit.
We’ll carry out a criminal record check.
Bring the necessary identity documents to your formal interview. The address on the documents should match the address on your application form. You’ll need proof of your right to work in the UK, you will be provided with a list of approved identification documents in line with The Disclosure and Barring Service and proof of your address.
Certificates!
Remember to bring any qualification certificates that are required for the role.
Be a successful candidate!
Read through our hints and tips and give yourself the best chance at a career with The CFT.
Do your research!
Look at our website and check that you match our outlook and culture.
Apply via our application form.
We require a fully completed application form, we’ll ask for your full employment history from age 16, include all job titles, employment dates and your reason for leaving – and if there are any gaps, please tell us why.
We’ll need contact details of referees.
Referee's should be people you’ve worked with during the last three years. One should be your most recent employer. We’ll also need a reference from any employer where you’ve worked directly with children and young people and a personal referee.
We’ll carry out a criminal record check.
If you’ve lived abroad within the last ten years, you might also be asked to complete an overseas criminal record check.
If your application is successful.
There may be some more pre-employment checks specific to the role, but a member of our HR Team will be in touch to talk you through what’s needed.