Support and benefits

Foster carer benefits

Referral Scheme

The Fostering Service runs an incentive scheme where our approved Foster Carers can receive £1000 if they recommend someone they know to foster and that person goes on to become an approved foster carer.

This incentive has recently been raised from £250 to £1000 as part of our ongoing commitment to recruitment and retention of our Foster Carers.

Speak to your Supervising Social Worker or contact the Recruitment Team  for more information.

Inspire Courses

All of our foster carers and 16+ fostered children are able to access any of the many courses available through Inspire, free of charge. These take place in Nottinghamshire libraries across the County.

Library entitlements

As a Foster Carer for Nottinghamshire you can have a special library card that entitles you to take out up to 36 items at a time. This is in addition to your personal library card if you have one. Items are issued for the standard 3 week loan period but there are no overdue charges or reservation fees. Audiobooks are also issued free of charge.

Max Cards 

All foster children have access to a Max Card. This allows free or discounted access to thousands of venues across the UK, such as Merlin attractions, Drayton Manor, Sea Life Centres, Virgin Experience days and Go Ape, for fostering families.  Click on the picture below to visit the Max card website.

Clumber Park bike hire discounts

All NCC foster carers are entitled to have a free child's cycle hire at Clumber Park, through the National Trust, when accompanied by an adult cycle hire. This is an exclusive benefit for Nottinghamshire County Council foster carers. 

Nottinghamshire County Council discounts and benefits

All foster carers are eligible to a variety of discounts and benefits at local shops and amenities.

The Fostering Network

As a foster carer, you will be offered free membership to the Fostering Network. This entitles you to information on training events, legal advice, advocacy and mediation, discounts and a quarterly magazine. 

Foster carer newsletters

Foster carers will receive a regular email newsletter from us featuring news, details of training events, interesting articles and relevant service updates.

Fostering website

All foster carers have access to a dedicated website packed with information, learning materials and videos relating to fostering topics, a diary of events, news, updates and much more.

Tax Relief

Foster carers do not need to pay tax on their first £10,000 of income (related to fostering) and receive further tax relief for every week that a child lives with them. This means foster carers are not liable for tax on fostering incomes much greater than £10,000 per annum.

The Fostering Network provide workshops on this for their members and you can see the UK Government information on this tax relief here