Our Core Values

1. Unity - We are Christians who love God and all people, and we work together as a faith community.
2. Children - We put vulnerable children at the centre of all we do to change their stories within the context of a loving family.
3. Development - We provide holistic support to children, carers and staff to reach their full potentials.
4. Stewardship - We strive to be good stewards of God's gifts in our lives and God's creation by using our resources in a wise and ecologically friendly way.
5. Reverence - We listen and communicate with respect and care.
6. Integrity - We work diligently and from our hearts out of love for God to demonstrate our life in Christ throughout our personal lives and the entire organisation.

Our Vision

For Children:

• Positive family life
• Sense of belonging and identity
• Move towards successful adulthood
• To be a full family member

For Families:

• Be part of the wider Foundations Matter family
• Extensive, 24/7 above and beyond support
• In-house short break care
• Continuous training by professionals

Our Mission

• Offering unique peer-to-peer support in regional clusters.
• Offering tailored training and support for carers, extended family, friends and church communities.
• Offering in-house support workers where needed.
• Providing a Foundations Matter Annual family holiday with those who 'get it'.
• Ensuring a seamless transition from fostering to adoption, while continuing the same excellence with the same Social Workers.
• To ensure the best outcomes for everybody.

Our Principles

• Foundations Matter aims to improve the future for children in the care of Local Authorities by finding loving 'forever' homes where they can grow and develop to the best of their abilities.
• All carers are Christians, but the children obviously have a right to choose what they believe.
• All children have a right to experience positive family life and values, encouraging a  sense of belonging and identity, which will help them to move more successfully into adulthood.
• Every child placed with a view to permanence is regarded as a family member with all the usual relational rights and privileges this would entail.
• Short break carers will be seen as 'extended family'.
• The skills, knowledge and services of a wide range of professional and lay people are designed to ensure that each child reaches their potential and that families are adequately resourced and equipped for the task.

What is an Independent Fostering Agency?

There are a number of differences between fostering with an independent foster care agency and fostering with your local authority, and deciding which is right for you is an important step in your journey.
Foundations Matter is one of many independent fostering agencies (IFAs) in the UK, who work closely with local authorities to find safe, loving homes for children in foster care.
Finding enough good quality foster parents to care for the rising number of looked after children is an ongoing challenge for local authorities, and one that they’re unable to accomplish alone; particularly for older children, siblings and young people with disabilities, where it’s generally a little more difficult to find suitable foster homes.
Therefore, independent fostering agencies in the UK work hard to recruit, train and support foster parents to be able to care for these young people and provide them with the enjoyable childhood they deserve.