Foster Carer Wellbeing
Your WellBeing Matters to Us
Every day, foster carers do an amazing job for the young people they care for, and the number one priority of a foster carer is always the wellbeing of the children they care for.
At TACT, we understand how important foster carer wellbeing is too. We know that foster carers who feel happy, valued and supported are able to carry out their role to a much better standard. That’s why we offer a range of services to help foster carers take care of themselves while caring for others.
Benefits and Perks
Our foster carers have access to a range of different benefits and tools to support their wellbeing such as:
- Help@Hand account – a remote health care service
- Calm – a subscription to an award winning meditation and mindfulness app
- Blue Light Card – access to lots of discounts and offers
- Breathways – sessions that help focus on breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and manage stress.
- Wellbeing Days Out – paid for by TACT, whether that’s a Spa Day, a Picnic in the Park, Bowling or a meals out – it’s just another we try to show our heartfelt appreciation for all the hard work our foster carers do.
… and much more!
Foster Carer Mental Health
Fostering is an incredibly rewarding role, but also one that can be demanding and present lots of challenges along the way. The issue of foster carer mental health is a vital one to us – we know that foster carers with good mental health are able to fulfil their role without added stresses and complications.
It’s for this reason we provide all our foster carers with a subscription to the Calm app, which offers thousands of hours’ worth of guided meditation, breathwork, motivation and movement videos. Foster carers also have access to Help@Hand, a service connecting foster carers and their family members with a number of health services, including up to 8 consultations for mental health support with a UK based doctor.
Finding opportunities to relax and de-stress can be difficult for foster carers, but it’s vital that they are taken advantage of. To this end, we’ve provided our foster carers with access to Breathways who focus on breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and manage stress. The sessions create an opportunity to relax and de-stress in the moment and provide valuable tools to support wellbeing at home, helping our carers to be happy, healthy, and resilient.
Memberships
The Fostering Network
As a TACT foster carer we’ll pay for your membership to The Fostering Network, a national charity who support everyone involved with fostering. Your membership here includes a 24/7 stress support service, legal protection insurance, a 24-hour legal helpline and learning and development opportunities. As a member, you’ll also be entitled to a 10% discount with Haven Holidays at locations across the UK and Europe, helping you to get some much needed time to rest and relax!
Wellbeing of Women
As a founding member of the Wellbeing of Women Employer Membership Programme, TACT is dedicated to supporting women’s health at work.
TACT joins ‘Wellbeing of Women’ membership programme
TACT are proud to announce that we are now a founding member of Wellbeing of Women.
Financial Wellbeing
Wellbeing isn’t just about looking after our physical and mental health – being comfortable financially also has big implications on our wellbeing. Being a charity means that money isn’t unlimited, but our foster carers are the lifeblood of TACT and we always strive to offer the best support we can.
The allowance we pay to carers to cover costs during holidays is paid for 13 weeks across the year, rather than only the 6 weeks of summer holidays. We know that foster carers are not in it for the money, but we’re committed to supporting them financially wherever we can.
Outside of the fees we pay, we offer financial wellbeing support on our foster carer portal. This includes resources and information about many aspects of your financial wellbeing, including money management, budgeting and tax advice tools and workshops.
The number one priority of our brilliant foster carers is the wellbeing of the young people they care for. However, we know that carers who have minimised stresses in their lives and taken time to look after themselves can carry out this role to a much higher level and this is why we’ve made such a commitment to support the mental health of foster parents. Foster carers can find much more information about looking after their physical health, mental health, financial wellbeing and mindfulness on our foster carer portal.
Why Choose TACT?
We are always looking for new and innovative ways to provide support to our foster carers and young people. As such, we have developed a range of innovative services, including our own Education and Health Service – both of which are focused on achieving great outcomes for children and young people.
We are continually reviewing and enhancing our wellbeing offering.
We have a collective of Foster Carer Wellbeing Advocates, comprising representatives from our foster carers and staff.
This group meets regularly to ensure our wellbeing offer reflects what carers want and looks at how we can continually improve the offer!
Start Your Fostering Journey
