This page lists fostering agencies working across Bristol, Plymouth, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, and the wider South West of England. If you are thinking about fostering, compare your options here before making any decisions.
Fostering Need Across the South West
The South West of England stretches from the Severn Estuary to the tip of Cornwall. It is one of the most geographically spread regions in England, and that brings particular challenges for the care system. Children in the South West who need foster placements often face longer distances between them and their birth families, making local carers especially important.
Nationally, nearly 84,000 children are in care in England, and the South West contributes a significant share of that. Urban centres like Bristol and Plymouth have substantial numbers of children in care, but rural communities across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset also have children who need local, stable placements and who are currently sometimes placed a long way from home.
The Rural Reality of Fostering in the South West
The South West's rural character is both an opportunity and a challenge for fostering. On the one hand, rural settings can provide exactly the kind of calm, stable, spacious environment that children who have experienced chaotic early lives often benefit from enormously. On the other hand, rural isolation can make it harder for agencies to provide the kind of responsive, close-at-hand support that carers need.
When comparing agencies in this region, pay particular attention to how support is delivered in practice. A large national agency with a South West office may have a supervising social worker covering a vast geographical area. A smaller regional agency may offer more localised, responsive support.
Independent Agencies vs the Local Authority
You have a genuine choice between fostering through your local council and fostering through an independent agency. Both are regulated by Ofsted, and both play an important role across the South West.
Independent agencies often offer higher allowances, more intensive support, and training programmes that go beyond the standard Skills to Foster course. Local authority fostering keeps children placed within local communities, which in a region as locally rooted as the South West can matter a great deal.
Many carers in rural areas of Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset find that the local authority option keeps them closely connected to their community. Others prefer the more intensive support model that independent agencies offer. The right answer depends on your circumstances and preferences.
Who Can Foster in the South West?
The South West has a tradition of community, self-sufficiency, and looking out for neighbours. Those are excellent qualities in a foster carer. You do not need to own your home, be in a couple, or have formal childcare qualifications.
You do need to be over 21, have a spare bedroom, and have the right to live and work in the UK. Rural households, coastal properties, and farmhouses are all perfectly suitable provided they offer a child their own safe space. Many foster carers in this region say the pace and environment of South West life is something their foster children have found genuinely healing.
Types of Fostering Available
Short-term fostering is the most common type, covering the weeks or months while longer-term decisions are made. Long-term fostering means a child stays with your family until adulthood. Emergency fostering requires availability at short notice.
Short breaks fostering is a good entry point for people who want to start gradually, caring for another foster family's child for a weekend or a few days at a time. Parent and child fostering supports a young parent alongside their baby. Therapeutic fostering is a specialist area requiring additional training but offering higher support and allowances.
Using This Page
The agencies below all work across the South West. Compare their Ofsted ratings, the areas they cover, and the types of fostering they offer. Most agencies are happy to have a completely informal first conversation – there is no commitment involved in picking up the phone.