Our Mission
We believe every child in care deserves to feel valued, heard, and respected. Foster parents have the unique ability to provide this care, making a lasting and positive impact on a local child’s life. Our mission is to ensure that every child and young person in care is surrounded by love, support, and the opportunities they need to grow into confident, thriving individuals with bright futures.
We achieve this by working closely with our extraordinary foster parents every day. However, to reach more children, we’re calling on like-minded, local people to join us as foster parents—individuals who share our belief in the transformative power of therapeutic care and compassionate parenting.
We provide everything foster parents need to feel empowered and prepared for the challenges they may face. This includes expert training in therapeutic care, 24/7 support, and a welcoming, close-knit community where foster parents can connect, share experiences, and feel truly supported. By standing alongside our foster parents every step of the way, we ensure they feel confident, capable, and inspired to provide the life-changing care children in our community need.
Our History
The roots of Changing Futures began to form around 25 years ago when the Charity opened an estate-based youth club. Over time, this broadened out into specific help for young people with challenges and then to helping their parents and wider families too. Fostering is a natural step in our journey and in line with our mission to improve the lives of children and young people through key relationships that matter to them – in this case, through foster carers (or parents) applying a therapeutic fostering model.
Our commitment to building communities began 25 years ago; it was the collective effort of local parents that drove the creation of the parent charity. This has helped us focus on building interconnected networks of foster parents who support each other and who are supported by staff – relationships are the magic ingredient in the fostering household and in the fostering agency!
Because we’re owned by an active charity, young people have been and can be supported through a range of complimentary services. They have access to employment advice and support in education and training. We can help bridge to semi-supported accommodation from fostering through one of our local partnerships. We’re always working to extend our help and hope to be able to offer targeted therapies as time goes on.
We are a Local Agency
We are passionate about making a difference to the lives of children and young people across the North East. Changing Futures operates in a radius of about 40 minutes around our office headquarters in Hartlepool; this covers areas such as:
Yorkshire – This includes North Yorkshire.
Teesside – Including Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton on Tees, Redcar and Darlington.
County Durham – Including Newton Aycliffe, Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor, Sedgefield, Peterlee, Seaham, and Consett. Geographically, we operate from the join between Darlington all the way to East Durham, which covers Peterlee and Seaham up to the north of Hartlepool.
Sunderland District – This area includes Houghton le Spring, Hetton le Hole, Sunderland and Washington.
Due to our large radius, we are able to provide unmatched support to the foster carers, children and young people in our agency. This includes regular face-to-face training and support sessions, helping to build a safe and supportive fostering network within our agency! We also often organise fun trips and days out to continue the sense of community that is integral to our agency. These events help foster carers and young people to bond through fun, shared experiences.
Our Team
Our experienced team is there to support you every step of the way. Sarah, our registered Manager, has a wealth of experience in fostering, and both Sarah and our Supervising Social Workers, Mark and Debbie, have many, many years of experience in children’s social care. Fiona, our fostering, recruitment and business administrator, has lots of business administration experience and helps make sure that payments to foster parents run smoothly and that references and vetting proceeds in the quickest time possible.
Choosing Changing Futures Fostering means joining an agency that provides a local, accessible, and relationship-focused fostering experience. Our competitive fees and support package ensures you have the security and stability to focus on what truly matters – the children, their happiness and their development. We take pride in our child-centred approach, prioritising the well-being and prospects of the children we serve above all else. Our commitment to being a not-for-profit agency reaffirms that every resource at our disposal is dedicated to creating brighter futures for our children, not corporate profits.
Join us in our mission to change fostering for the better. Together, we can make a real and lasting impact on the lives of those who matter most.