Could You Welcome a Child Into Your Home for the Weekend?

What is Respite Care?

Respite carers provide care for a child on a one-off or regular basis in order to give their foster carer or parents a regular break.

This might be a regular weekday, weekend or overnight commitment for a child with special needs who lives at home with their family as part of a support package, or it might be on a one-off or regular basis for a child in a long-term fostering family. 

Why Respite Care Matters

Short break and respite care provides families with much deserved downtime, as well as allowing children to enjoy new experiences and build trusting relationships with other adults and children.

A Carer’s Perspective

Foster carer Steve, who has been a foster carer for over nine years, shared: “I get a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I’m helping maintain the main fostering arrangement for the child that I have. Without the respite, that arrangement may not be able to continue. I also get to do lots of fun things with him!”

A Community That Cares

Our fostering community is one of our key strengths. As a ‘small but mighty’ not-for-profit fostering service, we get to know our foster carers and the children or young people we look after. As a result, we’re able to build a strong close-knit community spirit, and our foster carers collaborate closely with social workers and the professionals involved in a child’s care and development.

We Welcome All Backgrounds

We need more foster carers from different backgrounds to reflect the children and young people in our care. Anyone aged 21+ with a spare bedroom could foster with Foster Portsmouth regardless of their age, gender, faith, ethnicity, sexuality, marital or work status, or whether they rent or own their own home.

Support Every Step of the Way

Foster Portsmouth, Portsmouth City Council's fostering service,  welcomes all enquiries about fostering. Our foster carers come from all walks of life and they all share the same commitment and motivation to make a positive difference to a child’s life.

Our carers receive local round the clock support and ongoing quality training such as therapeutic care, including through our mentoring scheme and our innovative award-winning Mockingbird programme. They also receive competitive fees, discounts, benefits and allowances, social activities, and free membership to The Fostering Network.