Foster carers needed in Gosport
South Coast Fostering is recruiting foster carers in Gosport, Alverstoke, Elson, Hardway, Rowner, Bridgemary and Lee-on-the-Solent. Children from Gosport who come into care are placed by Hampshire County Council. Gosport Borough Council says so itself: child and adult protection is a county function, and safeguarding concerns are referred up to it.
Gosport's population fell between the last two censuses, from about 82,600 in 2011 to 81,900 in 2021, a drop of 0.9 per cent. Most of the county's districts grew over the same decade.
The 2025 English Indices of Deprivation put Gosport 97th most deprived of 296 local authorities, the most deprived district in Hampshire outside the two cities. Fifteen of its neighbourhoods are in the most deprived fifth of England and another fifteen in the band above that. On education and skills the borough ranks 26th in England, the worst position in the county. Its four most deprived neighbourhoods all sit in the Forton and Town ward.
Hampshire had 1,711 children in its care in May 2026, 21 more than a year before, with children of 13 and over making up half the total. Ofsted rated the county's children's services Outstanding after a short inspection in June 2024, a grading category Ofsted stopped using on 1 April 2026.
You would be supervised by Sharron, who covers Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Four-weekly visits at minimum, and the child seen at least every eighth week. The phone is answered 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and out of hours it is answered by a dedicated team.
Payments run at £479.50 a week per child up to the age of 10 and £507.50 from 11 upwards. An additional needs placement pays between £550 and £850, a parent and child placement £987. Add a council tax contribution of £330 to £1,500 a year, and note that qualifying care relief, HMRC's scheme for foster carers, leaves most of that income untaxed. Ofsted inspected the agency in January 2026 and rated it Outstanding across all three judgement areas. Phone 023 8235 2020.
What do you need to Be a Foster carer?
You need a bedroom the child can call theirs. Not a study with a sofa bed in it, and not a room shared with one of your own children. Babies are the exception at the start, since a baby sleeps in a crib next to you, but the room has to be in the plan.
You need to be around. That means the school run at both ends of the day, six weeks of summer, and appointments booked when it suits the clinic rather than you. On a peninsula with one road out, that time cost is bigger than it looks. Carers here build the travel into the week and plan around the A32.
The rest is character, and it is assessed properly. Expect questions about how you were parented, how you argue, what happened in your last relationship and what your bank statements look like. It is intrusive. It is also the reason children get placed safely.
Support you'll receive from us
- 24/7 support from your supervising social worker
- £507.50 a week in fostering allowance and fees to foster
- Intensive training program to help you be the best you can be
Where are we recruiting?
On the peninsula itself: Gosport town, Alverstoke, Elson, Hardway, Rowner, Bridgemary, Brockhurst and Lee-on-the-Solent. Then north over the borough boundary to Stubbington, Hill Head, Titchfield, Fareham and Portchester.
There is no railway station in Gosport. Reaching the rail network means the Eclipse bus north to Fareham, 4.4 km of which runs on its own off-road busway laid along a former railway line, or the ferry across to Portsmouth Harbour, four minutes on the water with a sailing every fifteen. Gosport Borough Council’s tourism site puts London at just over 90 minutes that way.
That is the case for recruiting carers who already live here. A Gosport child placed inland does the Fareham run in reverse for every contact session and every review meeting. A carer in Bridgemary or Hardway does not. If you have a spare room on the peninsula, call 023 8235 2020, and the rest of our county coverage is on the Hampshire fostering page.
Gosport
Next Steps
Depending on where you are in your fostering journey, we have a few suggested next steps.
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One road out
Hampshire County Council’s draft transport strategy for Fareham and Gosport, published in November 2025, puts the consequence of the geography in one line: all traffic leaving the peninsula must travel north through Fareham borough to reach the A27 and M27. The A32 is the corridor that carries it. The same document records congestion as significant on the A27, A32, B3385 and B3334, with pinch-points at the major junctions.
For most residents that is a commuting nuisance. For a foster carer it is a scheduling constraint. Every appointment outside the borough starts on that road, and the A32 at half past four decides whether you arrive on time. Carers here learn the timings fast, and they tend to be the ones who tell new applicants what the run to Fareham is really like.
The population figure is worth sitting with too. Between 2011 and 2021 Gosport shrank while most of Hampshire grew. A borough that is not growing has fewer new households arriving to replace the carers who retire, which is how a local shortage builds up quietly over a decade.
Deprivation is concentrated as well. The 2025 indices, published in October 2025 and analysed by the borough council in January 2026, rank Gosport 97th most deprived of 296 English local authorities and 26th for education and skills, the worst position in the county on that measure. Gosport 008D, in the Forton and Town ward, is the most deprived neighbourhood in the borough, with three more from the same ward just behind it.
HMS Sultan sits on Military Road, the Royal Navy’s marine engineering training establishment and the home of its air engineering and survival school.
From April 2028 Gosport’s children’s services move to a new South East Hampshire Council, alongside Fareham, Havant and Portsmouth, following the government’s decision of 25 March 2026 and elections in May 2027. The road out will be the same road. So will the need for somebody in Rowner or Alverstoke with a room to spare. Call 023 8235 2020.
book a call about fostering:
We’d be happy to give you a 15-20 minute call to tell you about fostering. Don’t worry, there’s no pressure from us – it’s honestly a chance for you to ask us any questions you have about fostering, and your suitability. Just complete this short form
