Blue Sky Fostering was established in 2005 in response to a growing demand for services for foster carer and children/young people which addressed the local need for foster placements which enabled children and young people to remain within their local communities. and solutions across the south coast of England.

We decided from the outset, that our agency would become established enough to offer security, but small enough to still offer the personal touch often missing from larger providers, and so important to Foster Carer undertaking this demanding and challenging role. In order to ensure we maintained this ethos we decided to:

• Not become a national provider.
• Recruit the very best staff and home base them within the neighbourhoods of those fostering for us.
• Manage our growth carefully ensuring at all times that we maintained our family feel.
• Deliver our support services flexibly, speedily, and without fuss.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate!
• Consult and involve foster carers and children/young people in decisions about how the service was run.
• Provide regular opportunities for our foster carers to come together and talk!
• Recognise that fostering is a serious and challenging occupation, but ensure that we have FUN along the way!

Operating across the south of England, Blue Sky supports over 70 Foster Carers, caring for around 80 children, and employs a team of 20 staff.

In 2008, Blue Sky was deemed an 'outstanding' fostering provider following an inspection by Ofsted.

For us fostering is both challenging and rewarding at the same time. It’s important to go in to it with your eyes wide open and to expect all sorts of situations, but the chance to make a difference to a child’s future far outweighs any difficulties you might experience. Blue Sky provides us with great support on both a friendly and professional basis. The agency feels like a family to me and it’s great to know that anytime I call, whoever I speak to, the support they give me is fantastic!

Diane and Rick - Foster Carers