Stephen Morgan MP has joined this year’s Foster Care Fortnight campaign by celebrating and raising awareness of foster care.
Foster Care Fortnight is an annual fostering awareness campaign, led by the Fostering Network, that will be running from 11-24 May this year. The chosen theme for 2026 is “This is Fostering,” which celebrates the diverse experiences within the fostering community while shining a light on both the rewards and challenges of foster care.
As part of this year’s campaign, the Fostering Network is highlighting:
- The everyday experiences of fostering and the positive difference foster carers make
- The pressures facing foster carers, including financial challenges and lack of support
- The need for collective action to improve the fostering system and deliver meaningful change
Across the UK, there are over 104,000 children currently living care, with more than two thirds with foster families. However, there is still an urgent need for more foster families, with an estimated 6,000 additional foster carers needed across the UK, including 5,000 in England alone.
To find out more about this year’s Foster Care Fortnight campaign, and to get involved, click here.
Commenting, Stephen Morgan, MP for Portsmouth South, said:
“Foster families are crucial to ensuring every child has a stable, loving home that provides them with the opportunity to succeed. As I have heard firsthand, Portsmouth’s foster carers are doing extraordinary work, often in very challenging circumstances.
“The Fostering Network’s do vital work dedicated to improving outcomes for those in foster care and supporting foster families. Campaigns like Foster Care Fortnight not only recognize the stories of those who have been in or provided foster care, they are crucial to ensuring that families continue to be there to support those in need by raising awareness of fostering.
“The Government recognises the importance of fostering and understands that, to protect and support the foster care, action must also be taken to address the challenges that the system currently faces”.
Earlier this year, the Government’s announced its new Fostering Action Plan, which will:
- Expand fostering
- Strengthen carer support
- Ensure more children grow up in loving family homes
The strategy sets a clear ambition to create homes for 10,000 more children to grow up in foster families, backed by £88 million. Measures include a national recruitment campaign, stronger regional fostering hubs, new digital tools to support applicants, and funding to help experienced foster carers create home extensions.
To read about the Fostering Action Plan in further detail, click here.
