Hampshire Hive is a support network, funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county.
In this podcast episode, Hampshire Hive foster carers Andrea and Johnny explore some of the myths often associated with choosing fostering as a career. Andrea highlights the flexibility fostering offers and talks about how she initially combined her career as a mental health nurse with fostering before deciding to commit full time to the role.
Johnny, one of the first male foster carers in Hampshire County Council’s fostering service, explodes the myth that only women can be foster carers. He shares his experience of being the main foster carer in his household and why it was important to establish a support group for male foster carers.
This podcast is the second episode in a three-part series called Hampshire Hive: Fostering Through a Community of Families. You can listen to the first episode here.
Fostering in Hampshire
Hampshire Hive is a support network funded by Hampshire County Council, that assists fostering families across the county. There are now 27 Hampshire Hive groups, with 23 Hive carer support workers and over 500 registered foster carers collectively.
If you would like to find out more about fostering with Hampshire County Council, please visit its fostering service website to download the council's comprehensive information pack. You can also sign up for one of their upcoming virtual Q&A sessions attended by both a member of our recruitment team and a Hampshire County Council foster carer.
About The Social Work Community Podcast
The Social Work Community Podcast explores the issues that matter to social work practitioners in their working lives. Senior commercial editors Kirsty Ayakwah and Sharmeen Ziauddin interview experienced and inspiring guests, including frontline social workers who speak from the heart about their jobs, the sector and society.
It was nominated in the podcast category at the 2024 BASW Social Work Journalism Awards following its first season, which ran from October 2023 to April 2024.
It can be found on all major podcasting platforms including:
Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.You can also listen to the episode here:
And if you missed part 1 of our Hampshire Hive Series, listen to part 1 here. Click ‘follow’ or ‘subscribe’ on your podcast app so you know when a new episode is published.
