Fostering in Sittingbourne
Explore fostering with South Coast in Sittingbourne. Ask about your home, your time and the support you could expect.
Your home. Your circumstances.
Sittingbourne is a town in Swale, north Kent, between the Medway Towns and Faversham, with the Isle of Sheppey just to the north. Trains run to London and the Kent coast, and the A2 and A249 meet near the town. Kent County Council runs children’s services here. Travel, working hours and family commitments can shape the care you are able to offer. Tell us what a normal week looks like so we can discuss the possibilities honestly, including anything that may need to change.
Tell us your postcode and we can discuss coverage, travel and what a suitable fostering arrangement could involve. Your first conversation is about exploring the possibilities, not committing to an application.
A named supervising social worker, preparation and ongoing learning, and experienced out-of-hours advice are part of fostering with South Coast, rated Outstanding by Ofsted in all three areas in January 2026.
Get to know your support ↗Sittingbourne, in numbers
Swale grew 11.7% between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, from around 135,800 people to 151,700. Nothing is published for Sittingbourne on its own, so the borough figure is the one to quote.
Thirteen of Swale’s ninety neighbourhoods sit inside England’s most deprived tenth, 14.4% of them, putting the borough 62nd of 296 on the 2025 Indices of Deprivation, decile 3. DWP counted 6,038 children under 16 in relative poverty in 2023/24, 19.6% of them, with 5,023 in absolute poverty. The Kent average for relative poverty is 17.5%.
Kent had 510 mainstream fostering households in September 2025, caring for 650 children. Its Children in Care Sufficiency Strategy 2025 to 2028 says the council has to look outside its own service for around 44% of the foster homes it needs. Swale runs from the A2 villages out to Sheerness and Leysdown, so a child with no home nearby can end up on a different bus route to a different school.
Sittingbourne has high speed services to St Pancras, and a branch line runs north to Sheerness-on-Sea. Day to day it is the M2, the A2 and the A249. Family time, appointments and school runs happen at addresses rather than stations, so you will want a car.
Bobbing, Borden, Tunstall, Tonge, Bapchild, Rodmersham, Kemsley, Newington, Upchurch, Iwade, Teynham, Bredgar, Queenborough, Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness and Leysdown.
See what we pay ↗Questions worth exploring
Explore your space, availability and the people around you.
Explore thisUnderstand the allowance and professional fee, and when payments apply.
Explore thisSee the steps from an informal conversation to assessment and matching.
Explore thisBefore you apply
Yes. Tell us your postcode and the places you can travel to. We will explain coverage and explore your circumstances before you decide whether to go further.
No. We can discuss different types of care alongside your household, experience and availability. A child’s needs remain central to any match.
We can discuss what you would like from a different agency and explain the transfer process. Any move needs careful planning, including the needs of children living with you.
A conversation, at your pace
Ask us about fostering in Sittingbourne. We will listen, explain and help you consider your next step.
A first chat takes about 15–20 minutes. No pressure to apply. Lines open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
