People who have grown up in care will be able to get free medicine and dental services until their 25th birthday under new measures announced by the Government. 

A new pilot scheme will also aim to boost access to mental health support for children in care, while GPs will be alerted to patients who are in care in a bid to keep them safe.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the change is being made in recognition of the difficulties young people face if they have grown up in foster care or a children’s home.

Lynn Perry, chief executive of Barnardo’s, said: “It cannot be right that children who have grown up in foster care and children’s homes have poorer health than their peers.

“We warmly welcome the government’s decision to extend free prescriptions and dental care to these young people up to the age of 25. It’s an important step towards a society which gives all children the best start in life, whatever their background."

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TACT have been rated the second best charity to work for in the UK, following a ‘Best Companies’ survey in September 2025.

In addition, the charity have retained their Best Companies ‘three star’ accreditation; a top tier ‘world class’ award that is a reflection of the commitment of the organisation to make workplace engagement a priority.

Other notable recognitions included 11th Best Mid-Sized Company to Work For across the UK and 5th Best Company to Work for in the North East Region. Daniella Jackson, TACT’s Director of People, said: “Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey. These incredible results are a reflection of all of our incredible colleagues who make TACT what it is. We are extremely proud of what we’ve achieved and are looking forward to what the future brings."

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TACT’s Education Service has produced their annual report for 2024-2025 academic year, and it has highlighted some wonderful achievements and successes – with many grades and results surpassing national averages for children in care.

The service offered many sessions to TACT young people regarding Post-16 options, exam revision and managing stress. They also launched the Apprenticeship Academy, and delivered Bitesize sessions for Connect members in a variety of careers, employability and education topics.

The Education service has provided a suite of training across the year to foster carers, staff and schools, including trauma-informed education, Wales Additional Learning Needs, Secondary Trauma & Resilience, Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and Anti-Racism.

Young people’s educational achievements have surpassed all expectations.

In England, TACT had 13 children who took a year 1 phonics check in the 2024 Summer term. Eight passed, with 6 of those gaining very high marks and 2 gaining full marks. Of the 5 children who did not pass, 3 were very close. All of these children have since been provided with a PhonicsPlay subscription and foster carers have been contacted by the England Advisory teacher to offer some advice and support.

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​Fair Ways is proud to celebrate the incredible success of this year’s Care Leavers Appeal, which has reached its biggest milestone yet. Thanks to the generosity and community spirit of supporters across Hampshire, we have packed 180 bags, our highest total to date.

This marks a powerful increase from last year’s 110 bags, and more than double the 60–70 bags collected in our first year. Each bag represents a small act of kindness that will make a meaningful difference to a young person stepping into independence this Christmas.

Many care leavers face the painful reality of packing their belongings into plastic bin bags when moving on from care. As advocates against this practice, Fair Ways proudly upholds its commitment that no child will ever leave one of our services with their belongings in a black plastic bin bag.

This year, we were once again supported by the incredible team at Madlug, an award-winning bag brand that helps give dignity to children in care. Their ethos “Because no child should carry their life in a bin bag”, perfectly mirrors our own mission, and we are deeply grateful for their continued partnership.

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This Christmas marks seven years of our charity Christmas appeal, Secret Santa.

The magic of Christmas begins in childhood. Carefully hanging stockings. Peeking at presents under the tree. But for many, Christmas is anything but magical.

For seven years, we've been asking people like you to support our charity Christmas appeal by becoming a Secret Santa and making a donation.

Every year, our supporters remind us of their incredible generosity. Thanks to you, we can continue to be there for vulnerable children and families across the UK.

To celebrate, we reflect on the Secret Santa milestones we've achieved over the years.

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On 9 December, the Together Trust community came together for one of the most cherished moments in the festive calendar – our annual carol concert. Held once again at the beautiful St Mary’s Church in Cheadle, the evening was filled with music, creativity and the unmistakable warmth of the Christmas spirit.

We are incredibly grateful to Reverend George Crowder, who kindly opened the doors of St Mary’s and led the service with warmth and generosity, as he has done for so many years. Reverend Crowder began the evening by welcoming everyone and offering an opening prayer, setting a reflective and joyful tone for the night ahead.

The congregation then stood together to sing much-loved carols, including Once in Royal David’s City, We Three Kings, Away in a Manger, Silent Night and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. The sound of voices filling the church was a powerful reminder of the Together Trust community coming together as one.

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Fostering at Christmas can be complicated for both foster carers and the children they provide care for. Christmas may not be celebrated or acknowledged by members of the household, or there may be more deep-routed issues such as negative past experiences from the perspective of a young person. Whatever the reason, the holiday season can work for all members of the fostering household with a little forward planning and flexibility.

Differences in faith When Fostering At Christmas
One of the most important points to consider when we reach the holiday period is the differences in faith. If you are a foster carer who doesn’t celebrate or acknowledge Christmas, then providing a festive experience for a child who values Christmas may feel a little alien to you. Likewise, you may need to provide care to a child whose religion or upbringing is incongruous to Christian festivals such as Christmas.

In these situations, a flexible approach is the key to ensuring that all faiths are represented and celebrated. A great way to achieve this is for both foster carer and child to talk about and introduce elements of their own religions into the festive season. Not only will this achieve a balance between the differing faiths, it will also function as a useful learning and bonding exercise. Social Workers will be able to support with opening these dialogues, and will be able to provide advice.

Click here for top five tips for any fostering households who will be looking to celebrate Christmas with the children in their caretactfostering.org.uk/fostering-at-christmas/

The 25th Roughley’s Christmas Toy Run was bigger and better than ever!

The much-loved annual tradition involves a fleet of local bikers, donned in festive gear, setting off from Tesco in Stockport to our Cheadle campus where they deliver hundreds of toys for our Christmas Appeal.

Despite the typical Manchester rain, the turnout on Sunday was incredible – and the generosity of the Roughley’s crew was extraordinary. An amazing £1252.37 was raised in cash donations, as well as 3199 gifts – worth an extraordinary £15,792.17!!

Lottie, Together Trust Fundraiser, shares:

“It is an honour to look after the Together Trust’s relationship with Roughley’s Bikers, who year on year show such kindness, hard work, and generosity towards supporting our services. It’s been extra special to celebrate 25 years of the bikers supporting the Trust this year and boy, did they knock it out of the park! 

Compared to last Christmas, they almost doubled the amount of money raised, over tripled the amount of monetary value of the gifts received, and over quadrupled the amount of gifts they donated. 

What a way to celebrate this incredible milestone. They make such a difference to our services and their events are beloved by everyone in the Trust. The Fundraising team are blown way and teary-eyed! We think they are wonderful and we wouldn’t be able to fulfil our Christmas appeal without them. Here’s to many more years!”

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Portsmouth City Council has joined forces with Fair Ways in a new partnership, designed to broaden support for foster carers and increase awareness of the vital role they play in the lives of children and young people.

Fair Ways, which launched the Fostering Friendly Employer Charter in March 2025, has led the way in championing awareness of supporting existing and potential foster carers within the workplace. The initiative promotes flexible, understanding, and compassionate employment policies that help foster carers balance their vital role at home with their careers.

After launching the charter in Portsmouth, Fair Ways successfully already encouraged 100 local businesses to sign up, resulting in Portsmouth becoming the first officially recognised Fostering Friendly City in the UK.

By partnering with Fair Ways, Portsmouth City Council’s fostering service Foster Portsmouth, aims to build on this momentum, bringing additional resources, visibility and reach to the initiative. Together, both organisations will work to grow the number of fostering-friendly employers, encourage more residents to explore fostering and create a wider network of support for existing foster families in Portsmouth and surrounding areas.

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We’ve had some news recently at CFC that we are so excited to share with you all! After our most recent assessment from Ofsted, we’re proud to announce that Community Foster Care has been officially confirmed as OUTSTANDING provider of support for our carers and young people (read the full report here)! 

We’re unbelievably filled with not only pride, but also appreciation as we look back on the journey we’ve been on as an organisation to get to such a momentous point. 

It has us reflecting on our early days as an agency. When Community Foster Care was set up back in 1999, our founders had a simple mission statement: do fostering differently. 

It was a simple idea, but not necessarily an easy one to bring to life, but what worthwhile mission is ever easy?  In 1999, our social workers immersed themselves in the local communities and challenged prevalent ideas about who could foster. The aim was to support communities, provide local foster families for local children, working in areas of economic deprivation providing employment and improving skills.

And we are still operating in this way over two decades later!

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