“There’s a lot of children out there that just want to go to college and go home to a safe bed at night, have a career and aspirations,”

Those are the emotive words of Katie and her partner James who, for the past four years, have kindly opened their family environment to young people, aged 16 to 21, who are leaving care . As supported lodgings hosts for Rochdale Council, they provide room in their home for young people to live, learn and build a future.

Their passion to help others first began when they saw their close friends become foster carers but over time, Katie and James realised this wouldn’t quite fit in with their busy work commitments.

Supported lodgings care, however, offered them the flexibility they needed to make a meaningful difference.  It involves caring for a young person over the age of 16 as they become an independent adult. Supported lodgings hosts pass on important life skills to the young people in their care, such as preparing nutritious meals, budgeting and finances, and managing a home. They can also support young people with their studies, apprenticeships and finding employment.

“These young people have their own identity and at 16 they are a bit more capable of the basic stuff, so it was easy to fit into our footprint,” James explained. “They have to be in education, in an apprenticeship or doing something to be part of supported lodgings and I think that’s really important,” Katie added.

Sometimes described as a “lighter touch” to fostering, the impact of supported lodgings is no less profound as young people gain their independence while still having a safe place to return to – a home where they’re supported through life’s challenges.

Providing room in their home at that age, Katie and James say it is “exciting to be a part of their special moments as lots of things happen between 16 and 18." 

“With our young person we’ve celebrated lots of milestones,” James said. “When they first moved in with us, they wanted to own their own business for example and I think over time, and the time spent with us, they’ve changed ideas. They’ve gone to college and now they have started university, so they’ve really progressed in that respect with us.”

Katie fondly recalled the moment that their supported young person rang the Ring Doorbell while she was at work, and she saw her skip down the driveway with her keys in her hand going into her car, having just recently passed her driving test. Katie said “She was just genuinely happy. I thought, we’ve supported that."

Anyone thinking of becoming a supported lodgings host undergoes an assessment with their local council to establish what support they can offer to a young person and to learn more about them as a person, information which is then factored into a matching process.

“We’ve really jelled with our younger person, and it’s made the past couple of years quite nice,” added James. “Rochdale Council were great with us and kept in touch and the minute you speak to your first social worker I think everything becomes transparent then. You have a path. Katie also explained that "you’ve got groups that you are part of too, so you actually meet friends as well and socialise with people that are all in the same boat and just talk through different scenarios and circumstances.” 

Anyone who would like to be a supported lodgings host must be aged 21 or over and have a spare room. Supported lodgings hosts do not need to be a parent already or be in any form of relationship and they can, like Katie and James, still work and be a host at the same time.

If you have room in your heart and your home, and curious to learn more about becoming a Foster Carer, please take the time to read the information on our website.  

Once you are ready to take the first step on your journey to becoming a foster carer, please get in touch with us via

• The Enquiry Form
• Email at enquire@fosterforgm.com
• Phone on 0300 303 0321

A committed and friendly member of our team will contact you within one working day of your enquiry and are here to answer any further questions you may have about fostering.  They will also explain and guide you through our step-by-step approach in your journey to becoming a foster carer.