We’re in the middle of the annual Foster Care Fortnight.
It’s the UK’s biggest awareness campaign celebrating the importance and joy that comes from fostering a child in need.
There are 377 looked after children in placement across Surrey.
Surrey’s current foster carer cohort includes approximately:
o 143 general fostering households
o 102 kinship carers
o 34 short breaks carers
o 34 supported lodgings carers
o 6 parent and child carers (Surrey leads nationally in parent and child provision per head of population)
o 6 young refugee carers
Ben Boyd is one foster carer who is hoping to dispel some of the misconceptions surrounding the process.
You can listen to his interview here.
Looking ahead, Surrey is facing a forecasted increase in carers retiring over the next three years, meaning it needs to recruit more carers, and younger carers, now to avoid future shortfalls.
To put this into context, the 40 carers recruited last year went on to care for 28 children during 2025–26.
The County Council says those are 28 children who were able to live in loving, stable homes locally, rather than facing uncertainty, disruption, or being placed further away from their communities.
