Stockport businesses urged to become Fostering Friendly

Stockport Council is calling on local businesses and organisations to adopt policies to support employees who are, or are considering, fostering children in the borough.

Stockport urgently needs more foster carers, and the borough’s businesses are being encouraged to become Fostering Friendly Employers to support more employees to foster and help provide the best possible care for a child or young person.

As a fostering friendly employer, employees will be offered flexible working and time off for training and settling a new child or young person into their home. Employers will receive support and guidance from The Fostering Network, the UK’s leading fostering charity.

Cllr Wendy Meikle, Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education said:

“We are always looking at new ways to encourage our local residents to become foster carers and help find a safe and loving family home for the children and young people in our care who desperately need one.

“In order for this to happen, we need our local businesses to have the infrastructure in place so our foster carers feel the support from their employers in order for them to provide the highest possible standard of care.”

Geoff Durbin, Vice Chair of Stockport Foster Carers’ Association said:

“Every child or young person in foster care will have experienced some kind of trauma in their lives. It takes time and special care to start dealing with this trauma and to begin rebuilding their confidence and trust. For foster carers, it’s so important for them to know that their employers support them by giving them the flexibility they will inevitably need to fulfil their fostering role.”

Major Stockport employer, The John Lewis Partnership, which employees over 550 people at its John Lewis store in Cheadle and Waitrose store in Cheadle Hulme, is fostering friendly. As part of its Building Happier Futures programme, the retailer works to harness the talents of care-experienced people and support the wider community, such as foster carers.

Ceira Thom, Head of Learning, Inclusion and Belonging for the John Lewis Partnership said:

“We’ve been accredited by The Fostering Network as a Fostering Friendly organisation since 2023. We are proud to support our employees who are foster carers with time off, giving them the flexibility to attend appointments and training. A supportive employer can make all the difference to those who foster, which in turn can improve the experience of the children in their care. This enables them to balance employment with looking after children and demonstrates our continued commitment to Building Happier Futures.”

As part of GMCA, Stockport Council is a fostering friendly employer, together with the 10 other local authorities, NHS Greater Manchester and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS), making Greater Manchester the UK’s first fostering friendly city-region.

For more information, visit Foster for Greater Manchester’s website.