Fostering in Bristol

There are many children in Bristol who cannot be looked after by their own family. This could be because of illness or family breakdowns or because they have experienced some form of neglect. TACT are recruiting foster carers in Bristol to provide care and support to these children. If you have got a spare bedroom, a caring nature and energy to provide a child with a happy home, we believe you could join our Fostering Bristol team!

At TACT we are more than just a fostering agency; as a charity we put children at the heart of everything that we do and all of our surplus income goes back into services for our carers and the children that they look after.

Foster carers come to us for many reasons and they stay with us because we help them do the most rewarding job in the world. Together we transform the lives of children and young people, giving them the chance to lead happy, loving, fulfilled lives.

Meet Our Team

We have a great team of staff within the Bristol area. Elaine Graham, our area manager for the area, is truly passionate about improving the lives of children and young people. She manages our great team of social workers in the South West – ensuring that our team of foster parents are fully supported.

We cover a wide area in and around Bristol, including Filton, Emersons Green, Long Ashton, Clifton, Chittening – and many other areas in the region.

Hear from our foster carers in Bristol

Upcoming events in Bristol

Elaine looks after our fostering bristol team!

Why Foster in Bristol with TACT?

TACT is the UK’s largest dedicated fostering charity. We have been providing nurturing and caring homes for vulnerable children since 1993.

We work closely with Central Bedfordshire local authority to help find caring homes for children and young people. We can only do this with a fantastic team of foster carers – and that’s where you come in. As well as investing surplus income into providing more training and support for our fostering households, we provide additional support over and above what is required of a fostering charity. That’s why we developed our dedicated education service, health service and online foster carer portal.

Additionally, our TACT Connect service ensures that when young people leave our care, they continue to receive our support into adulthood.

This is why 96% of our carers would recommend us to others thinking of fostering.

Ofsted Rating

24/7 Support

Fostering Allowances

Rated As ‘Outstanding’ By Ofsted

Following an inspection in June 2022, Ofsted have announced that TACT South West has been rated ‘OUTSTANDING’ for its work with foster carers and looked after children.

“Children build trusting and loving relationships with carers. Carers are skilled in
helping children develop family-like bonds that enable them to recognise healthy
relationships and trusting adults” – Ofsted, 2022

Read the Latest Report

24/7 Support

When you become a foster carer with TACT, you will be allocated your own Supervising Social Worker who will support you on your fostering journey. Our social workers have manageable workloads, allowing them to devote more time to you. In addition, our dedicated out-of-hours support service will provide you with peace of mind around the clock.

We reinvest any surplus income into additional support platforms to further support you. After all, the better we support you, the better you will be able to provide the care and guidance required to change children’s lives.

This is what we provide:

Full 24/7 support. Provided by your own allocated Supervising Social Worker, along with our 24/7 out-of-hours support service.
Foster carer portal. An online portal, providing information, advice and training to help you with your day-to-day life as a foster carer.

Education service. Ensuring that the young people in your care receive the educational opportunities they are entitled to.
Health service. Our health service was established in order to provide young people in your care with ongoing physical and mental health monitoring.
Support groups. Our support groups operate all over Bristol, and provide you with a local outlet to meet other carers in your area, share experiences and knowledge, and even make new friends!
Support for young people. Our Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners provide the children in your care with additional support, activities and events.
Supporting your own children. Your own children play an important role in the fostering household. As such, our Children Who Foster events provide your children with an opportunity to socialise with other young people who make an amazing contribution to fostering.
Peer support. Sometimes, peer-to-peer support may be available. These work by pairing newly approved foster carers with experienced TACT carers to provide another level of support.

Explore more reasons why to choose TACT…

Fostering Allowance Bristol

Foster carers are highly skilled people, and our fostering allowances reflect this.

There are two elements that make up the allowance you will receive:

A fee that is, in effect, a payment to you for caring for children in your home.
An allowance for each child you provide care for. This will cover various expenses that you will incur during your day-to-day life as a foster carer.

The actual fee and allowance that you will receive will be dependent on factors such as the type of foster care you are providing, the actual number of children that you care for, their age(s), as well as the complexity of their needs. You will also only receive fees and allowances when you have a young person placed with you.

There are also a number of additional payments that you will receive, such as payments for children’s birthdays, holidays and religious festivals. In addition to your fostering allowance, we also pay long service awards and Refer a Friend fees (if you recommend someone who then goes on to be an approved foster carer with us).

View Our Fostering Allowances

Hear From Our Foster Carers in Bristol

“Fostering really brings you the highest of highs”

Witnessing the change in the children, seeing their personalities develop and their confidence and trust in adults grow, is what I enjoy most about fostering. Seeing their smiling faces as we share good nights is so rewarding.

“My favourite thing about being a foster carer is seeing her smile”

After having two children of my own, along with working professionally with children and young people in a teaching capacity for many years, I wanted to become a foster carer.