Across the Isle of Wight, foster carers open their homes and hearts every day to provide love, stability and care to children and young people who cannot live with their own families.
However, like councils across the country, the Isle of Wight urgently needs more foster carers to ensure every child can be matched with the right home, at the right time, to meet their individual needs.
What is Foster Care Fortnight?
That’s why Isle of Wight Council is supporting Foster Care Fortnight, which takes place from 11th–24th May 2026.
Led by The Fostering Network, Foster Care Fortnight is the UK’s largest annual campaign to raise awareness of fostering, celebrate the incredible difference foster carers make, and encourage more people to consider fostering.
‘This is Fostering’: the 2026 theme
This year’s theme, ‘This is Fostering’, shines a spotlight on the everyday realities of fostering and the profound impact foster carers have on children’s lives.
It highlights the compassion, resilience and skill foster carers show, often in challenging circumstances, to help children feel safe, supported, loved and able to thrive.
The moments that matter
Throughout Foster Care Fortnight, voices from across the fostering community will be sharing stories that reflect the reality of fostering. For foster carers on the Isle of Wight, this can be seen in the small but powerful moments that matter – welcoming a child into their home, helping them settle into a new school, building trust, and adapting their approach to meet each child’s unique needs, to ensure a sense of belonging.
By sharing these experiences, Foster Care Fortnight aims to give a clearer picture of what fostering really involves and why foster carers need to be properly valued and supported. It also provides an opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to Isle of Wight foster carers for their dedication and commitment to local children and young people.
Kay Jones, Service Director for Children’s Social Care said,
“Our foster carers play a vital role in supporting some of the island’s most vulnerable children.
“Foster Care Fortnight is an opportunity to recognise their incredible contribution and to encourage more people to consider fostering. With the right support and training, fostering can be incredibly rewarding, and it can change a child’s life.”
How can you get involved?
You don’t need to be a foster carer to support Foster Care Fortnight. You can help by talking about fostering with friends and family, following and sharing Foster Care Fortnight messages on social media, and helping to raise awareness of the need for foster carers locally.
The more people who hear about fostering, the greater the chance of finding safe, loving homes for children who need them.
Thinking about becoming a foster carer?
The Isle of Wight Council is always looking for new foster carers to provide safe, nurturing homes for children and young people – whether that’s for emergency care, short-term care, or longer-term fostering.
Foster carers receive training, professional support and financial allowances, and come from all walks of life. You don’t need to own your home or to be married – what matters most is having a spare room and the ability to offer a loving, stable, caring environment.
Find out more
You can find out more about fostering by visiting the Local Authority Fostering South East hub
Further information and to apply to be a foster carer
- call on 0300 1312797 between 9am – 5pm
- email [email protected]
- Applying to foster – Isle of Wight
News shared by Isle of Wight council press office, in their own words. Ed
