Portsmouth charity encourage more employers to help foster carers at work
Fairways Foster Friendly Charter's had over 100 employers sign up in to support employees who need time off to attend foster meetings
Last updated 16th Feb 2026
A Portsmouth children's service are calling for more employers to get involved in a charter aimed at helping foster parents at work, as there's a "huge" demand for foster carers.
Fairways Foster Friendly Charter's had over 100 employers sign up in Portsmouth to support employees who need time off to attend foster meetings.
The charter's made Portsmouth the first foster friendly city in the UK.
Paul Moran, Director of IT and Communications for Fairways, said: "We started what we called a campaign to talk to local employers.
"We asked those local employers if they would support any of their staff who either already were in fostering or wanted to foster, if they could give them some time off to attend necessary foster meetings.
"They all said yes, so we asked them to sign a charter and called it the Fairways Foster Friendly Charter.
"We had over 118 employers in the Portsmouth area who all signed up to be part of it in four months.
"It's been a phenomenal response.
"We've now reset the target to get to at least 200 employers in the Portsmouth area."
Mr Moran told us why they wanted to set this charter up.
He said: "All organisations have policies and benefits on various things that they offer to staff.
"Some of it is statutory and some of it's not, and you hear about paternity policies and maternity policies.
"Our idea was very simple in saying could you as an employer, have a policy or have an awareness of fostering.
"I don't think any employer has said no.
"What we've definitely seen is a raise in awareness because foster care can, at times, be quite isolating.
"What we're trying to do is get that conversation going and get that awareness up."