Support That Makes Fostering Work

Thinking about fostering or already caring and craving steadier ground? We talk to the team from Foster Talk about the varied and in depth that they provide in addition to your local authority or independent care agency and open the door on what real support looks like when you’re Fostering a child and navigating systems that don’t always feel simple. From day one clarity to worst day protection, this is a practical guide to feeling less alone and more prepared.

We get specific about allegations: how often they arise, what happens first, and why independent support can make the difference between panic and perspective. You’ll hear how a dedicated Allegation Support Team of experienced social workers walks carers through each step, explains timescales, and helps keep focus when a supervising social worker must step back. We also tackle legal cover in plain English, including immediate representation and funded defence if police involvement occurs, so carers know their rights and options before they ever need them.

Money matters get the time they deserve. Many carers don’t realise fostering income is disregarded in Universal Credit, or that tax and council support can help during gaps between placements. We talk through self-employment basics, benefit pitfalls, and how to plan for short-term, respite, and emergency arrangements without risking the household budget. Then we zoom out to Staying Put, the pathway that lets young people remain with carers after 18, and why that steady bridge into adulthood changes outcomes for life.

Policy is shifting too. Foster Talk shares how their survey on allegations fed directly into Department for Education reforms now out for consultation, including proposals for holding payments during investigations. Along the way we cover modern safer caring: daily logs that protect and show progress, smart tech do’s and don’ts, and the power of webinars and peer learning. And yes, we highlight the lighter side—member discounts, Blue Light Card access, and small perks that make days out easier for families.

If you want fostering to feel sustainable, informed, and hopeful, this conversation puts tools in your hands. Subscribe, share this with a carer who needs it, and leave a review with the one question you want answered next.

For those interested in what Palliative care looks like at home there is "The Last Kiss" (Not a Romance)
Available on Amazon now
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hello and welcome to Everything Foster Care with me, Jason Control, and guests, and my guests today are all from Foster Talk, an organization which I think is not for profit, is that correct?

SPEAKER_02 0:13

That's correct.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Okay. And uh you guys are just there to support foster carers and essentially in almost every aspect of foster care, it seems. From financial side of things, looking for discounts for people, look uh looking at allegations and problems and supporting with legal advice and so forth. So is that fair? Is that about right?

Why Independent Support Matters

SPEAKER_02 0:36

Yeah, that that sounds about right. So I'll just give you a little bit of um background into foster talk. So we were established back in 20 um, yeah. Um, in a a perceived need for foster carers and fostering services to have a greater degree of access to independent support. Um we currently support around just over 20,000 households now, and we uh work with around uh 240 fostering services, so a mixture of local authorities and independent agencies right across the UK. We have an amazing team here at Foster Talk, only a very small team. I think there's around 16 of us, but we have like Lisa, who is part-time administrator, and Lisa and her husband have fostered for well over 15 years and currently have stay-in-put supported lodgings uh in place, right through then Amy, which um Amy will introduce herself shortly, um social workers, professionals, and then we have Ruth who is um head of Foster Talk now. Um so a wealth of experience and and knowledge um to support obviously our members.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Fabulous. So I've got to say, when we started foster caring, we knew nothing about foster talk, and we kind of just became aware of you that was mentioned in our training. Oh, and you're part of talk because you're part of our independent fostering agency, and we went, oh, okay, wherever that is. And then over the last couple of years, I've been getting these emails and discovering so much more. Luckily, we haven't had to go and talk about allegations or anything of that. But it's very important, I think, when people are first fostering to know the wealth of support that you folks offer. And, you know, we didn't kind of clock that before. So, Nick, what a job you've got.

Membership Benefits And 24/7 Helplines

SPEAKER_02 2:33

I mean, and what yeah, we're all very, very busy. You know, a big part of of mine and Lisa's role is that we we do go out to fostering services to either inform newly approved carers um because we feel it's so so important that they understand the level of support that they have access to through the membership that's either been provided by their fostering service or some people join us as individuals. And yeah, we we we we you know we spend an hour uh running through the membership benefits, the their legal insurance cover, because that's so, so important if ever they're subject to an allegation or a serious complaint arising from their fostering role that they have the legal expenses cover, right through then, as you say, to kind of like the three help lines so the legal, medical, and counselling support lines, that they're all 24-hour help lines. Um, we have finance advice, tax benefits, and national insurance advice. So Lisa and I we spend about an hour going through and then we'll have some lunch and and have a mingle and take any questions from from them our members. Um but as I say, it's just so so important that the foster carers are informed from the offset that they have their membership because obviously we want to support as much as we can with retention and recruitment of foster carers, as we all know we have a bit of a shortage, a bit of a low, you know.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Um the the figure is, isn't it? Six thousand families therefore foster care needed. So yeah.

Webinars, Tech Boundaries, And Training

Allegations Team: How It Works

SPEAKER_02 4:10

We want to do all we can and we you know, we really do believe the quality of our membership will aid that and and support foster carers in their journey. So yeah, so uh going back to Lisa and I, we go out and we'll run through the membership. We also put on a lot of events, webinars, and Laura has uh our colleague Laura from the marketing team has a big part in organising all of their webinars and guest speakers. And they're all complimentary, all part of the membership because we all work around the clock to ensure that you know our members feel supported in their role, you know. And we have we've got, well, just an example, we have RSPCA again this year, we have a webinar all around AI, we have the do's and don'ts of smart technology within the household, you know, there's a bit of a grey area, isn't there? And it comes recording devices, ring doorbells, etc. So yeah, we we put all these events on, not just for foster carers, kinship carers, but also for for staff members as well who um have the have the staff membership. Um and then we have obviously the separate side of things, which is uh the allegation support. So it is completely separate from the membership. But um yeah, I'll hand over to Amy just to give you an overview of that service. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Hello, Amy.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Hi, yeah. Um so the allegation support team then, um so that's the team that I work with. There's three social workers on that team and two administration um admin support workers. And basically we we support carers that are subject to an allegation or a standards of care investigation or a complaint. So if a carer finds themselves in one of those scenarios, then they can call in, speak to us on the allegations team, and we can talk through, we can give them advice over the phone and and support over the phone about the process. On top of that as well, there's also like a bit of a step-up service called independent support. So that looks like we have um a group of I think we must have about 50 now advisors. So allegation support. Right. Um Allocation workers who will be allocated to cases. So basically, we we might get a phone call, say, from a foster carer saying that they've bit they're subject to an allocation. The fostering service could then make a referral asking us to allocate them a worker to support them through that process.

SPEAKER_04 6:45

Okay.

Risk, Safer Caring, And Record Keeping

SPEAKER_01 6:46

So we've got about 50 active advisors at the moment. And again, we work, we work with our members. Also, um non-members can also make a referral into the service. So even if the service isn't isn't a member with us, we can still we can still support caravers through that process.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

So can I just ask? Uh and this is because this is really to inspire people to say, you know, you should become a foster carer if you can, uh, you make a huge difference to children. One thing people are going to be worried about is how often or how likely is this? Now it's a tricky question for you, I know. Um, but uh for instance, we um me and my wife and my two teenage daughters who help out well, one's 20 now, help out a huge uh amount. We s kind of specialise in uh girls from naught to seven or eight because our house is kind of just geared up for that. So the the light blue, I mean it has never happened to me. Um really pleased to say, but how often is it likely to happen? I mean, it's a really tricky question for you, I know.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

But what I want people to get the a sense of is this is not a an a regular event in foster care life, but it does happen.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

Yeah, essentially. I mean, it's one of those with allegations, I think as a carer, hopefully during the assessment process, whoever is is supporting you through that process should be discussing allegations as a you know, it's something that could potentially happen to you as a carer.

SPEAKER_04 8:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

So it's always gonna be a possibility. Yeah, you can't kind of eradicate the risk altogether. But at the same time, there are certain things that carers can do to reduce that risk, if you like. So having a a really kind of well thought out and thorough a risk assessment in place, the family safer care in plan. So your supervising social work would be supporting you with those, but also that you know, trying to find as much information about the child in your care that you're looking after. Is there a history? Is there anything that you need to be aware of in terms of historical allegations that have been made?

SPEAKER_03 8:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

And your logs. So I'd say foster care is it's so important to keep on top of your logs and making sure that you are recording you know, in line with your agency's policy. So just keep on top of those because they can be they can be really helpful if you do find yourself in a situation where there's been a complaint or an allegation.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Yeah. So interestingly, because this is aimed at people who who are not foster carers, although, you know, hopefully foster carers will clock into this, the daily logs uh are really useful not just for recording these things, but for also backtracking and looking back at the progress of the child, and you write it from their point of view. So today, uh you were a little bit upset about not having your teddy at school or whatever. So it's like writing to them in the future. So that's just to clarify that a little bit. It's a really, really useful thing to do. Uh so if you're gonna become a foster carer, that's one of the things you've got to think about and talk to the social workers about. Sorry I interrupted you there.

Turning Allegations Into Learning

SPEAKER_01 9:52

No, it's no problem. Um, so yeah, I mean, what I would be saying is if you want to if you if you are become a foster carer, then you do need to to kind of acknowledge that that might be something that may happen to you um during your career. Um however, there is support available as well. You know, we we we offer that support and we the the care the carers that we work with are so grateful for for that support because the support from your fostering service can feel quite different um when you're going if you find yourself going through an allegation because the fostering service can't be seen to be interfering with the investigation in any way, so they have to take a step back. And obviously that that's usually the foster carers person that they would call for support is their supervising social worker. So having an AST advisor, it kind of looks that gap if if you like, because you know it's when carers really do need it. So yeah, we get a lot of really positive feedback. Um, a lot of carers will come back and say, you know, we don't actually think we would have continued fostering if we didn't have this support in place. So it just demonstrates really how how um important it is to put make sure that carers are are supported through that process.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Yeah, I mean that is a tricky thing, isn't it? Is if you are looking for support and your supervising social worker who you have built a relationship with isn't allowed to get involved, your service is just crucial, I would have thought.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Yeah. And I mean the the advisors that we have, like we've got this pool of advisors that we use, they're all very experienced, they're either social workers or we have some foster carers as well who have been through the process.

SPEAKER_04 11:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

And, you know, they they know the allegations process inside out. So for a foster carer that might find themselves in this situation, they may have been on allegations training, but I don't think anybody ever really thinks it's going to happen to them. So you kind of attend the training, and then um you if you find yourself in that situation, it's kind of like fumbling around in the dark, really. So having somebody, you know, to support you through that, they're not the AST advisor doesn't like they're not part of the decision-making process. Um they're there kind of sat alongside you on that journey and helping you to make sense of, you know, what happened in this meeting, what's the next thing that's you know, what are the next steps that are going to happen.

SPEAKER_04 12:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

What's the procedure that's being followed really? And even just reassurance to say, look, I know it feels like it's taken a really long time, but don't read into it because this is the nature of when you're in this process, that's quite normal. Because obviously if you haven't been in that situation before, you don't know what what is normal and what isn't normal.

Money, Benefits, And Self‑Employment

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Oh well. We have uh you know, we we had some training with a couple of foster carers uh a little while ago, and they'd had allegations made against them and which proves to be unfounded, you know, and I think probably quite a lot are. That's just the nature of kids kicking out. And they like us, they said we've been on such a journey, we've learned so much that actually it made us stronger and wanted to foster more, which was like counterintuitive, you know. So really? Okay. They said, because we learnt so much and we learnt how to, you know, try and reduce the risk of that from happening again. So that you know, that was a real, real useful thing for them. Oddly. You know.

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Yeah. That's a good way of looking at it.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Yeah, it is. I gotta say from you know, from when we started fostering, our world has just got bigger and bigger, and it's like we've got more of an extended family now, not just from social workers, other foster carers, kids we've fostered, and even some of their parents, you know, so the whole our world has kind of like got an extended family like we never thought we'd have, you know, um, uh, which is amazing. I wonder if I could come back to you, Nick, and ask you about more about and I want to come back, sorry, about the allegations in a minute, but uh for new foster care are starting, what would you say, apart from the the possibility of allegations, what are the biggest challenges that you can help with with them?

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Yeah, so uh as a prospective foster carer, um, as you say, entering the world in in in their journey of fostering and having to first of all kind of register as self-employed is is a is is a big one, really. Um, you know, I dread to think how many foster carers are out there that haven't actually registered, but we can support um with all of that, you know, completing all forms, um ensuring that they're they're entitled to benefits, you know, with universal credits. And again, a lot of operatives that, you know, DWP have probably had one or two weeks training and kind of you know, they they don't realise that foster carers are a special class of people. And we hear it day in, day out, you know, foster carers that have been told that they're not entitled to any form of benefit benefits. In fact, I had a lady on Monday um single, uh she gave up her a ro a job in teaching um to become a foster carer, uh single car. Um and we we've you know from start to finish we went through and she came up to me after she said, I I just can't believe that I I've never claimed any benefits, you know, as a single carer.

SPEAKER_04 15:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

Um so anyway, I put straight on to our um tax team, um and they've really helped her to secure the correct benefits that she's entitled to and council tax relief. And so I I think that's that's a big big step, you know, that that we can support with. And that's obviously ongoing then. Situations change, circumstances change.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yeah. The interesting thing I think is that when people are are thinking about becoming a foster carer, it's the idea is is like a bit olive twist, as you're gonna say, a child's gonna come along and stay with me and everything would be lovely and rosy in the garden. And uh and that's just not the way that it is. And it's it's good to kind of note that there's so many different types of foster care.

SPEAKER_04 15:58

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

From from uh respite just doing respite career, short-term care, uh uh to adoption. So that period when kids might need to be adopted and you look after them until that point happens. And so there's going to be gaps when you maybe not have a foster child and you're not getting paid and you don't have an income. And that's the area I think you're talking about, is it? Or partly?

Helplines For Complex Fostering Decisions

SPEAKER_02 16:23

Well, all of it really. I mean, you know, foster carers don't understand that their fostering income is completely disregarded when assessing a household for universal credits. They, you know, be earning a million pounds a month from fostering. As long as they're not creating a bank of savings, yeah, they're they're entitled to benefits. Obviously, there's it's means tested, so other income coming in or other assets, things like that will all be taken into account. But so that's ongoing. Um but yeah, you're right, you know, uh again I had a a lady, um, a couple in in a in the um meeting the other day that were saying that they hadn't had a placement for a while, but everything just stopped financially. But we can support them with with all of that to ensure that you know that they're getting the best advice and guidance. And but also uh a big support factor is our um general fostering helpline, which is run by the team Monday to Friday, 9 till 5, where foster carers can call in and speak to the experts on pretty much anything that they may not feel comfortable or they just want that independent advice, you know, whether that be an allegation or, you know, looking for guidance around standards of care or safer caring, or even maybe thinking of changing direction in their fostering journey and maybe considering a staying put arrangement or special guardianship, you know, and they may be seeking that independent advice we are here to seek to be.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Tim Paul, can you just explain that? So staying put.

What Staying Put Really Means

SPEAKER_02 17:58

I'll hand over to Em because I haven't got any social care background. Amy's although I do know Amy's probably the best to run through that.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

So um staying put. So stay in put um is essentially it's an arrangement where a young person would continue living with their foster carer post 18. So when a child turns 18, they're no longer in foster care. Um and it's uh it I say it's relatively new. I suppose it's been it must be a good 10 years that they've been doing stay in put now. Um so essentially it's it's about recognising that um you know when a child turns 18, they still need that network of support around them and they're still gonna benefit from that. So um some foster carers um can well as a as a foster carer, you might be approached about when a child's when a child is gonna be turn you know turning 18, um, what's that provision going to look like? Where are they gonna be living? And you might be approached and asked um if they if you would be prepared to have the child continue living with you under the stay and put arrangement. So it's it's different because it's the that it's it's an adult, it's not it's not a foster child, so it's slightly different. So we can talk to a two foster carers around the differences really and what they might want to consider about making that decision, so they can make an informed decision then um around whether that's right for them and their family and and the young person.

Policy Reforms And Carer Voice

SPEAKER_00 19:22

I've got to say, you said things have changed a bit, and I think that's probably true because I uh if you go onto the website you'll see there's a poem by Al Dupree, who was himself in care. He's uh well deputy headmaster and but also, you know, he writes children's books and uh so forth and so on. And he's um he's a great guy, and he's written a poem. It was called Sixteen, because at the time going in when you got to sixteen, you kind of left care, and that was that was that. Uh but that now eighteen. And uh what we were saying, and it I I think I love the idea of the staying put thing because you get to eighteen uh and in years gone by that would be a cut-off point, and you'd have to leave, and there'd be no support, no more support. So it's worth having a quick look at that for any new um foster because changes have been made, big changes. And I think there's some big changes that have recently been made as well, uh, which are more aimed at supporting foster carers. Is that great? I think Laura sent me through um the latest uh missive of changes, which I haven't had a chance to read because the moment I got that, our two new foster children turned up and they just turned the world upside down again. Uh which is and they're doing great, by the way, I just say uh they're doing really well at the moment. So um so yeah, so there's been some recent changes, as in all.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

Yeah, so I mean the the government, so foster talk work, we've been working with the Department for Education, so Ruth, our head of social uh head of Foster Talk, she will go along with meetings with other kind of organisations, the you know, big stakeholders in in fostering.

SPEAKER_04 21:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

So we've been able to communicate, you know, the DFE have been quite interested to hear from Foster Talk in terms of what issues we find, what we feel that, you know, yeah, what's important to to foster carers and kinship carers as well. And, you know, what are the issues that that they're facing and what what could potentially be done to support foster carers and retain foster carers and encourage people to become foster carers.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

So we've worked quite closely with the DFE and there are some there are some reforms that have been um kind of shared relatively recently, maybe over the last like four weeks, I think it is. And you know, there's a big consultation that's happening. So it's like an ongoing process that they're looking at you know reform, you know, the reforms around fostering and some of the legislation. So I'd encourage anybody listening, uh, you know, if you're a foster carer, to have your say and go and complete those reforms. Read the information and and have your say, really. I think that would be on the DFE website. Would that be right, Laura? Sorry, I'm going yeah. So it would be on the DFE website.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

There you go. Okay, so that's good. Yeah, so have a search for that. Um and uh yeah, that is because you know, I think my wife and I sometimes have felt as this whole world of social workers and independent reviewing officers, and you know, and they all have got this idea and understanding of the whole kind of network of foster care, and we've sometimes felt like really small pebbles on a beach in that respect. So it's lovely to have through you folks uh a um voice, you know, to say what affects foster carers on the ground floor, the people who are actually at the coalface, as it were. And I know that's not always been the case, it's always been a kind of top-down uh imposed thing, and saying people, well, we're gonna chuck more money into foster care, but nobody knows quite what until they just put up another building or whatever. But now that you folks are involved, I think that must make you feel like actually you are able to make a change at a governmental level.

SPEAKER_01 23:15

Yeah, it's wonderful. It's a it's a really nice feeling. We we're very proud of um, you know, the input and the the potential impact that Foster Talk might have had with with those reforms.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

It might be worth mentioning as well, Amy, around the uh allegations survey that we wrote.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Yeah, so that was a couple of years ago now, 2024, I think it was. So we did an Foster Talk carried out an allegation survey and it was posted out to all of our members and a lot there was a big uptake in in you know people that decided to take part in that. And from the ultimately the findings, there was a list of recommendations on the findings of of that. Um and a lot of those, well, I think all of those have been taken and with these new reforms, the proposals that they're suggesting, they've they've literally gone through every single recommendation and and it's made into the into the kind of reforms really. So it's really been quite had quite an impact on the reforms. So for example, we're pushing for foster carers. Um you know, if they've if they're subject to an allegation, at the moment there's nothing in legislation to say that they should continue to receive some form of payment during that, because it if with with if you if you're fostering, you know, that there's a chance that there's going to be an allegation made. And that's just from the very nature of what you're doing, because you children that you're caring for, you know, there's lots of reasons why they might make a false allegation, for example. Um, you know, you're in a very vulnerable position, really. And if you're if if you then are subject to an allegation, and it might be that you've got several children in the house, and it could be such a serious allegation that actually they might be looking at, you know, should these children remain in the house if we think that this might have happened? So that then is if you're if you're a full-time if you're a carer full-time and that's your main income, um, that's gonna have it's such such a massive impact financially on carers, and that's along that's on top of the emotional side of it as well. So one of the proposals was that, you know, there needs to be something in legislation to say that carers should be entitled to an element of the financial kind of reward that they would usually get for caring for the children because it's not through it's not any fault of their own, it's not it's not like they've decided to end the placement. No. It's out of their hands.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

That's like a holding fee, really, you know. And and interestingly, that's been discussed uh just recently by our own independent fostering agency is should there be a holding fee situation for foster carers to take emergency foster care? And I don't quite know what the outcome of that was, but this discussion was still there. So it's very much like, you know, suddenly there's no children in the house, and you were a foster carer, and with the word were uh until the allegation has been dealt with. So it it's it it's really unsettling, I think, for people. Especially financially.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Yeah. And you know, it can impact on, you know, your mortgage payment, for example, it could be you rely on that to pay your bills. Um so yeah, that's so that's the example of one of the proposals that were put forward, which has been like put into these proposals for this for the reform. Um Brilliant.

Paths Into The Work And Motivation

SPEAKER_00 26:28

Um I'm gonna actually take this down to a bit of a personal level and say So what were you doing before you joined Foster Talk, both of you? Can I start with Nick if I may?

SPEAKER_02 26:39

Nick's happened to just fall into this this role through uh a a friend of mine who runs a recruitment agency, but I've I've always been in kind of retail and and insurance, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

Yeah, satisfying.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

So that's more about organizational skills, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 26:58

You know being able to lead from the front, as it were, and see I've been with the company now for six years and I love it. You know, it's just what I do.

SPEAKER_04 27:09

Yeah, it might be. It brings a lot of smiles. Yeah, especially to me.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

You know, we want to do the best that we can for our heroes, I guess, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Um so I qualified as a social worker in tw 2014. Um initially I went into social work thinking that I was gonna be working with adults, but my first placement was at an independent fostering agency, and then that was it. I was like, no, I'm doing I'm gonna go into fostering. So I've always worked in fostering. Um it's quite dictive, isn't it? Yeah, I just I mean in terms of my background, my mum was quite interested in fostering when I was younger. She never actually ended up ended up doing it, but it's always something that has been kind of you know, it's always been something that we've always like admired, really, I suppose. And yeah, so I I've always worked in fostering and how did I cut so in fact what happened with me was I was at I was at the previous agency that I worked at and Lisa from Foster Talk came and did a talk about membership benefits.

SPEAKER_04 28:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 28:19

And I happened to then look on the website and and saw that there was a vacancy, and I was so glad that I did because it's I've um I just really I just love working here. It's it's a really lovely place to work. And it's just really nice because um, you know, I can speak to carers, um, and you can hear it in their voice when you know you they can call in and you can hear the panic and the emotion in their voice. Obviously, there's only so much you can do, but just having that conversation with a with a carer and them being able to offload and me hopefully being able to give them some reassurance as to what's happening and what support that they are entitled to. And it's really rewarding to be to be able to kind of have those conversations and and know. The best feeling is when I have a foster carer that's called in, and then we can set about then contacting the fostering service and asking if they're willing to make a referral, and then you see that referral come in and you see it all come together and know that they've got that support in place. It's just very, very rewarding feelings.

SPEAKER_00 29:15

I think that's lovely. And I think interestingly, I had uh when COVID hit, I I've got a small little business where I deliver cooking well, so it's not blood supplies, which is great. So when the kids go to school, I can do that and then be back to pick them up and all that kind of stuff and move things around. But before when COVID hit, nobody wanted to eat chips because nobody could go out. So my business just went down the can. And um so I had to go back to my former job as well, I didn't want to retrain as a nurse, I became a carer. And it was for a hospice going into people's homes in the last four weeks of their lives. And one of the things that struck me most, and I think this is what is addictive in your job as well, is when we would go into some places, people's shoulders would be up here and they'd be kind of a bit all stressed all over the place, like, oh my god, my relatives, you know, I don't know what to do, and I'd you know, and they'd be all over the place. We'd go in and we'd get the person usually a bit disheveled in their own bed, straightened out, washed, cleaned, make sure the medication was in the right place, and say most reassurance is well, we're gonna be here in the morning, we're gonna be here in the afternoon, and that's gonna go on until the story ends. And so you're gonna have that level of support. And then you go back in the evening and they'd have a cup of tea ready, their shoulders would be down, they'd be happy and a bit more relaxed. Obviously it's a tricky time, but the stress that we were able to reduce, and I bet that's the kind of feeling that you get when you know your third, fourth phone call in and they're going, So how is it now?

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

And they're a bit more oh, it's not so bad now.

SPEAKER_01 30:49

Yeah, 100%, yeah.

First Steps When An Allegation Hits

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Yeah. Yeah. So I've just going through what I've read about this kind of whole area, and I've gotta ask, what would be because for me, if there was an allegation made, I would want to know Well, I I'm not quite sure why I'd want to know. So what's the most important thing that you think that they should know when they're facing an allegation? Let's take it that that's a tricky one, isn't it, eh?

SPEAKER_02 31:18

If I if I could just start with the le with the insurance side of things, because a lot of foster carers they really don't realise that they have the legal insurance package with their membership. So, you know, if the police ever turn up at the door, for example, and they they're taken to the station for to be interviewed under caution, we automatically then provide legal representation um for that foster carer and their extended family. So we we have a a pool of solicit uh solicitors right across the UK and that specialise in fostering and family law. So, you know, rest assured they they're getting the best representation. If it then develops into a like a criminal prosecution. Um and any for any foster carers that are thinking about becoming foster carers and listening to in listening to this, you know, there's only a small amount that really ever goes that step further. At the end of the day, the the police are there to do a job, aren't they, you know, um and to kind of get to the the bottom of what's gone on or what's been said. But we will support financially through that allegation. So if it did develop into a criminal prosecution, you know, there's a pot of money up to£150,000 for solicitor's fees, court costs, barrister costs, and we've got a pool of money for um a civil claim. So it you know, it it's making sure that foster carer understands the level of support, obviously with the l allegation support team that Amy is part of, but also the league the insurance cover because a lot of foster carers, you know, they they don't realise that compared to what solicitors can charge this day and age, you know,£200 plus per hour. But that's just sorry, that that is just the finance side.

Entitlement To Independent Support

SPEAKER_01 33:13

But I'll let Amy answer the the Yeah, what I would say, so if there's anything to take away from this session is I would say if you're subject to an allegation, carers need to know that they're entitled to independent support because a lot of foster carers don't know that. They might call in, say, just to because they think someone's mentioned foster talk and said, you know, well, why don't you try ringing foster talk? Sometimes it could be a a foster carer colleague, one of their peers, sometimes it's the fostering service that signposts them to call us. But we would then discuss with them and say, you know, under in the National Minimum Standards, it very clearly says when a carer is subject to an allegation, they should be provided, they should be offered independent support from their fostering service. So if your fostering service hasn't offered you that, then you you can ask for it. They should be offering it. Unfortunately, it seems that some social workers are not aware that foster carers are entitled to that support either, which is a shame because you know, you'd like to think that as soon as a foster carer is is in that situation, that their support, you know, that they'd know what support is a they're entitled to and what they should be being offered.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Well, I've got to say that on the count of uh social workers, there's good ones, there's brilliant ones, and there's some not so brilliant ones, just in the same way as there are amazing nurses and some nurses I wouldn't trust for the plastic fishing rod, mess having worked with them, you know.

SPEAKER_04 34:38

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

But at the same time, I think on the whole, social workers pretty well trained these days. So that should be a part of their their training, their initial training, really, if they're coming into this particular area, I would have thought, but then I don't know. So yeah. It's a tricky one, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 34:57

It is. But yeah, I mean, going back to like the referrals, we have some fostering services where as soon as there's an allegation, it just seems their teams know that they ring the carer and they say, Would you like us to make a referral for a foster talk? And then there's no the the carer doesn't even need to call in and have a conversation with us because they're their fostering services just on it and they've made the referral. We're calling them just to say, We've been we've been asked to do this referral, we've been you've been allocated this support. But then there's other fostering services where the carer might call in not aware that they're entitled to any support and just they want to have a conversation with us on the phone and then we make them aware, and then we might have to chase some fostering services to say, you know, have you put support in place for this carer? And they've called us back, they've called back in this week and they said it said that they still haven't got support. So yeah, it's it like you say, it just depends on a mixed bag. Yeah, a bit of a mixed bag. But we we try to promote the service as much as possible.

Everyday Perks: Discounts And Blue Light

SPEAKER_00 35:54

And then, but knowing that you're there, you know, anybody looking at this will know, you know, whatever is said out there in the world is that they can come to you and they can get the right advice and they will be supported, and I think probably emotionally as well as financially and uh and legally. Yeah, which is great. And another part of foster talk, which is like you're an endless organization, really, aren't you? Because then there's the discounts that keep coming through. So who is it that's sitting on that computer again? Who else can we fleece to get a discount for the foster carers here?

SPEAKER_02 36:30

Yeah, so we work with um a company called You at Work. They're like a an employment benefits kind of company, but they they're um they're fantastic. I mean, there's thousands and thousands of discounts on on the portal that foster carers um and their household members can access. And, you know, you can get up to 40 per 40, 45% off cinemas, and there's clothing, retailers, electrical goods, car services, you know.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

Yeah, it's crazy, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 37:03

So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

I know uh when I when we recently went to uh an event with our fostering agency where they had these kind of like events three or four or five times a year where all the foster carers get together if they can and uh and the kids will play and it's it's it's brilliant. And one of the staff just happened to mention that there's about eight different places you can get a discounted something or other, and there's these other places where you can't, meanies. And uh and I said, but why don't you just put that in an email to us all so we can all kind of take the kids there and and that? So that's I mean, that's amazing. There's also I interviewed Sir John Timpson. I don't know if you do you know John?

SPEAKER_02 37:43

Yeah, Timpson's uh key cutters and yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Him and his wife, he's just such an amazing guy. Uh they fostered 90 kids over their time.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 37:56

One of the brilliant things about him, he's such a family guy, uh, that he runs his company like a family. I mean, employees are not employees, they're colleagues. He has a director of happiness, for instance, in the company. And I I just love that idea. Um and there's also he also provides you can apply to him for holidays in some of their, I think they've got chalets all over the place in England.

SPEAKER_04 38:21

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

So that's uh something for people to be aware of. You start looking things up on the internet about what is uh a benefit for foster carer, and there's actually a lot more than you would at first realize. So you've got not just foster talk yourselves who are there to back everybody up legally, financially, emotionally, and educationally, but also get on the internet and start looking around what else there is out there.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

Absolutely, because there's also the blue light card now that foster carers can apply for.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

Yeah, I've got a blue light card. I've no idea how to use it.

SPEAKER_02 38:56

For two years, something like that. Um but yeah, that's that's quite new, isn't it? For foster carers. I I I don't think they were able to apply previously, but uh yeah, there there's such a lot out there, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Well listen, I'm gonna wrap this up, but it's been a real pleasure talking to you both. And I'm a bit wiser, and I think for any new foster carers, I think it's a really reassuring session. So I want to say thank you very much, Amy and Nick, and Laura, who's in the background but's not saying anything. Um, and has helped organise us all get together. It's been fabulous. Who's got a telephone?

SPEAKER_02 39:34

Me. That's all right.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

That's all right. Listen, uh the amount of interviews I've had where my dog like yours just leapt up on in front of me and said, Oh, okay. Uh so listen, thank you very much for taking the time to chat with me.

SPEAKER_01 39:51

Thank you. And uh oh no, no.

Websites, Resources, And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 39:54

I mean, what you know, we're not doing uh the uh sorry, the well, I should have said the website is gonna be, or it is, uh www.everythingfostercare.co.uk. And we're gonna start bigging that up more in the summer. At the moment, I'm just interviewing people like yourselves who uh can give reassurance and support to new foster carers. Uh, but we're also gonna have a poetry corner. There's uh already some poetry on the website, and um also tips for eating, cooking with foster kids and trauma kids. I've just you couldn't really call them trauma kids, sorry, traumatized children or children who have been through uh a trauma. Um there's lots of support stuff that's gonna be on there, and that's when you know I'm I'll be wanting to push your interview out as a separate interview to the um uh to the website by putting it out on social media. I'm kind of guessing you'll be okay with that.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Yeah. Get the word out there.

SPEAKER_02 40:57

Yeah, um and our website is is uh www.fostertalk.org. Uh there's lots of uh resources on there and information about the memberships and uh the the allegation support as well. Um yeah, I've asked.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

Okay. Hopefully I'll speak to you again maybe next year and we might just catch up with any developments. And then I might next year ask you for some personal stories about your involvement in foster care. All right.

SPEAKER_01 41:29

Okay, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Thank you very much, Nick. And Amy.

SPEAKER_01 41:34

Good luck with the website and launch and everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

Thank you very much. It's launched, but I'm not pushing it out there because I've got two little girls to look after as well. You know, I guess you're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 41:45

You're a very busy man, yeah, with your your royal and uh everything else.

The Joy And Reality Of Fostering

SPEAKER_00 41:49

I've gotta say, we we absolutely adore uh fostering. It's just such a joy, you know. If anybody asks me what you do, yeah, it's it that can be tricky times. It's a lot of meetings and but it it just brings so much joy to life, you know. Helping people. Yeah. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

Lovely. Take care. Thanks very much. Bye.

SPEAKER_00 42:10

Bye bye, bye.