Finance Score: 3
Governance Score: 6
Support Score: 9
  • Poor Liquidity: -1
  • Good reserves management: +3
  • Multiple Deficits: -2
  • Fundraising costs low: +3
  • Good trustee age range: +3
  • Dynamic board: +3
  • Award winner
  • Overall weighted support: +9
Overall GiG Score: 18 ?

THE FOSTERING NETWORK

These are membership services, policy and practice, publishing and training, advice & mediation work, information services and consultancy and projects.
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • This charity is a recent Award Winner
  • Reserves management has been consistently within official guidelines
  • Fundraising costs are unusually low relative to funds raised
  • A significant proportion of recent income was derived from major grant makers including the Government
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Over half the Board have joined recently

Financial issues to consider:

  • Liquidity appears to have been slender at the latest year end
  • On several occasions in recent years income has been less than spending

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit £k
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/03/23£6,878£7,129£-251£101£3,154£2,96958625
31/03/22£6,662£6,816£-154£81£3,469£3,1675.68425
31/03/21£6,430£6,478£-48£93£3,430£3,0925.78624
31/03/20£6,902£6,702£199£126£3,912£3,0705.58045
31/03/19£7,198£6,651£547£142£4,156£3,4116.27825
31/03/18£6,819£6,561£258£158£3,935£3,5416.5760
31/03/17£6,748£6,514£234£278£3,677£3,2786800
31/03/16£7,888£7,637£251£158£3,443£3,1094.9840
31/03/15£7,018£7,043£-25£347£1,969£1,9073.2770
31/03/14*£6,969£6,931£38£388£1,994£1,9063.3770
31/03/13£6,382£6,186£195£348£1,310£1,3102.5750
31/03/12£5,860£5,721£139£240£1,115£1,1152.3740
31/03/11£6,669£6,325£344£358£974£9721.8800
31/03/10£6,691£6,721£-30£310£368£3640.7790
31/03/09£6,540£6,484£55£307£218£2150.4740
31/03/08£5,554£5,656£-103£221£524£5031.1760
31/03/07£4,557£4,702£-145£168£579£4631.2670
31/03/06£3,959£3,763£196n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/05*£3,255£3,274£-18n/an/an/an/an/an/a
31/03/04*£3,031£3,051£-21n/an/an/an/an/an/a

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 1.5%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 1.4%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 10%
Highest pay band: £130,000-£140,000
Liabilities/Assets: 42%
Liabilities/Income: 33%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 94%
Reserves/Spending: 5 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: -1 months
Quick Ratio: 0
Asset Split ?
Balance Sheet History
Established: 44 years

www.fostering.net

info@fostering.net

020 7620 6400

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies House
UN SDGs
?
Listed activities
  • Education/Training
  • General Charitable Purposes
GiG Classification
  • Adoption & fostering services
How it operates
  • Acts as an umbrella or resource body
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
Where it operates
  • Northern Ireland, Scotland,
Who it helps
  • Children/Young People

Who supports them? ?

Awards received
  • Third Sector Awards 2020 Big Impact Award
Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years
Department for Education£278,951
National Lottery Community Fund£126,678
KPMG Foundation£63,300
BBC Children in Need£32,661
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
BBC Children in Need - Grant to Fostering Network
£500 20/10/2022
0
‘Cost of Living uplift: £500 to help projects meet their rising costs and respond to increased demand 31/10/2022’
KPMG Foundation - Research into foster carer recruitment, retention and diversity in England
£63,300 14/09/2022
Research into foster carer recruitment, retention and diversity in England, to fill gaps in current knowledge, and help support some of the recommendations of the recent Care Review
BBC Children in Need - Grant to Fostering Network
£32,161 03/02/2022
This project will provide opportunities for children in kinship care, who have been affected by neglect, abuse and trauma. It will provide activities to supporting health well-being and tackle isolation and loneliness.
National Lottery Community Fund - Moving On - positive transitions through and out of foster care
£126,678 27/01/2021
23
This group will use the funding to provide support to children leaving a foster placement and who wish to maintain contact with the family particularly the foster carers birth children with whom they have developed a positive sibling relationship. ....more
Department for Education - Supporting Families Investing In Practice (SFIP)
£278,951 01/04/2020
Investing over £17 million into innovation projects to help keep families safe.Successful local authorities will be supported to embed one of three models: Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (FDACs), a programme known as Family Group Conferencing, and ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Capturing the Voice
£9,983 16/08/2019
11
This group will use the funding to address the issue of capturing the views of children with additional or complex support needs in relation to child care reviews and hearings, encouraging self-representation where possible, and providing relevant ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Walking Tall
£149,162 27/09/2016
24
The project will improve the lives of children in foster care and the children of the foster parents by engaging 38 young people across Scotland in a range of play, drama and dance workshops, which will help them express their creativity and share ....more
Greater London Authority - Grant to The Fostering Network
£49,427 21/03/2016
London Schools Excellence Fund - Subject Knowledge Hub
National Lottery Community Fund - Fostering Network - Step Up Step Down - Family focused fostering
£689,996 16/09/2015
60
The five-year Step Up, Step Down project supports children in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust care system to stay in their own homes. Four trained and experienced foster carers are working with families in their homes to establish ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Confidence in Care
£4,757,765 27/02/2015
60
Not Available
National Lottery Community Fund - Fostering Community Champions
£529,612 21/05/2014
47
Not Available
National Lottery Community Fund - Fostering the Future - Supporting and Empowering Fostered Young People
£391,789 18/10/2012
48
The project will provide young people aged 8-20 who are in foster care with a programme of support, personal development activities & skills enhancement to help them negotiate life transitions. The project will also benefit foster carers & ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Caring & Sharing - Supporting the sons and daughters of foster carers
£10,000 07/06/2012
12
The group, which is based in Belfast and works to support all those involved in foster care to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people, will use the grant to run two Northern Ireland wide 'sons and daughters fun days' and a family ....more
Henry Smith Charity - Grant to Fostering Network
£300,000 23/03/2012
36
towards three years' running costs of a new project to develop a social pedagogic approach to the care of children in foster homes across the UK
National Lottery Community Fund - Strengthening Families Through Support Care
£214,333 24/11/2010
48
The project is to support and develop new support care schemes across Wales. Support Carers enable families to take time-limited breaks apart, by taking in children for a weekend a month, an evening per week, or other agreed regular period. The ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - Fostering Connections
£246,243 25/05/2010
36
The project will develop communication and networks within the Welsh foster care community and provide foster carers with training and skills to influence and play an active role in that community. The project will achieve this by increasing access ....more
National Lottery Community Fund - The Foster Care Associations - A Forum for Change
£447,631 21/01/2010
36
This expansion of an existing project will extend provision of local foster care associations (FCAs) into 15 areas of England that are currently not served. An FCA provides a meeting place for foster carers to share problems, ideas and solutions ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How is it governed?

Trustees (11)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split
Based on 10/11 persons

Age Range of Trustees: 45-69
  • CAROLINE MALCOLM Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Foster Carer
  • CHRISTOPHER POPE Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Foster Carer
  • FRANK HARASIWKA Appointed: 2022, Occupation: Foster Carer
  • ISHARA TEWARY Appointed: 2019, Occupation: Service Manager
  • JONATHAN WALSH Appointed: 2018, Occupation: Lawyer
  • KATE BRASH Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Privacy, Security And Compliance Director
  • LYSSA ELSTER Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Chief Executive Officer
  • MATTHEW MICHEAL PAGE Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Business Development Manager
  • MERVYN ERSKINE (Chair) Appointed: 2015, Occupation: Foster Carer
  • PAUL SEATH Appointed: 2023, Occupation: Solicitor
  • STUART LEWIS Appointed: 2018, Occupation: It Director
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 11/07/1980, number: 280852
  • Registered at Companies House on 11/07/1980, number: 01507277
Gift Aid
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Bullying and harassment policy and procedures
  • Campaigns and political activity policy and procedures
  • Complaints handling
  • Complaints policy and procedures
  • Conflicting interests
  • Financial reserves policy and procedures
  • Internal charity financial controls policy and procedures
  • Internal risk management policy and procedures
  • Investment
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding policy and procedures
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Serious incident reporting policy and procedures
  • Social media policy and procedures
  • Trustee conflicts of interest policy and procedures
  • Trustee expenses policy and procedures
  • Volunteer management
Filing Record
20 returns made; AR14: 11 days late, AR05: 187 days late, AR04: 1 days late,
Main office

THE FOSTERING NETWORK
87 BLACKFRIARS ROAD
LONDON
SE1 8HA

Objectives

(A) TO RELIEVE BY SUCH MEANS AS ARE CHARITABLE CHILDREN THE AGED AND PERSONS SUFFERING FROM MENTAL OR PHYSICAL DISABILITY WHO BY REASON OF THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE NEED OF FOSTER OR SUBSTITUTE CARE. (B) TO PROMOTE AND ORGANISE CO-OPERATION IN ACHIEVING THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF SERVICE GIVEN TO CHILDREN AND OTHERS IN CARE AND TO THAT END BRING TOGETHER IN THE ASSOCIATION FOSTER-CARERS REPRESENTATIVES OF THE AUTHORITIES AND ORGANISATIONS ENGAGED IN ADVANCING FOSTER CARE AND RELIEVING DISTRESS OF CHILDREN AND OTHERS IN CARE AND TO ASSIST THEIR WORK.

Defined Area of Benefit:

NOT DEFINED

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving

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