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Kinship Care Week 2026
Kinship Care Week (5 to 11 October 2026) is a time to shine a light on the vital role of kinship carers – relatives and friends who step up to raise a child when their parents are unable to.
Unplanned, Unprepared, Unwavering
This year we are launching our new documentary photography series – ‘Unplanned, Unprepared, Unwavering’. Seven families, seven stories, one shared reality. With minutes to decide, they all became kinship carers with no time to prepare.
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What is Kinship Care Week for?
Across England and Wales, more than 141,000 children are being raised in kinship care, growing up in loving and stable homes that keep them connected to their families, roots and community.
Kinship carers are grandparents, aunts, uncles, older siblings, and family friends who take in children often at a moment’s notice and with little to no preparation. They may be caring under a legal arrangement like a Special Guardianship Order or as a kinship foster carer or be raising children informally without a legal order. Whatever their situation, they all play a crucial role giving children, most of whom would otherwise be in the care system, safety, stability and belonging.
This Kinship Care Week, we’re celebrating the unbreakable bonds at the heart of kinship families – and the communities they build to support one another – while highlighting the realities of stepping up to care for a child who has had a difficult start in life.
Get involved in Kinship Care Week with our digital toolkit
Here you can find a few resources, including ‘Your Complete Guide to Kinship Care Week 2026’ which is packed full of ideas to help you get planning and raise awareness of kinship care during the Week. The resources include logos, social media posts, posters, press releases and template letters and emails.
Celebrating kinship families, love and community
This Kinship Care Week, we’re celebrating the unbreakable bonds at the heart of kinship families – and the communities they build to support one another – while highlighting the realities of stepping up to care for a child who has had a difficult start in life.
This year we also mark a major milestone: our 10th anniversary of Kinship Care Week.
Over the past decade kinship care has moved from being often overlooked to increasingly recognised and understood. Together with kinship carers, young people who have been raised in kinship care and professionals who support kinship families, we have helped to:
- Raise awareness so that more people understand what kinship care is and why it matters
- Amplify lived experience, ensuring kinship carers and young people growing up in kinship care are heard and listened to
- Shift public understanding, bringing the essential role of kinship care within the children’s social care system into the spotlight
- Drive real change, influencing policy and securing more support at local and national levels
- Grow a global movement, with Kinship Care Week now recognised and supported internationally
A decade ago, many kinship families felt invisible. Today, their voices are shaping national conversations, services and decisions that affect their lives. That progress is worth celebrating, driven by the extraordinary love, resilience and commitment that kinship families show every single day.
But while we have come far, there is still a long way to go.
Too many kinship families still face financial hardship. lack of recognition and inconsistent support. Many step up in a crisis, yet do not receive the help they need to meet their unique challenges and provide the best possible care for their children. Now is a key moment to renew our commitment to go further.
This Kinship Care Week we will continue to:
- Champion all kinship families
- Centre the voices of children and young people in kinship care
- Build greater understanding among professionals and the public
- Push for the consistent, meaningful support all kinship families deserve.
Because kinship families should be recognised, valued and supported – and Kinship Care Week is a key opportunity to come together to celebrate all that they do every single day.
"Fostering is a well-known term; why isn’t kinship care?"
Jane, Kinship carer
Looking back at Kinship Care Week
2017
A design workshop reimagining kinship care brought together kinship carers, social workers, academics, and charities to discuss solutions to some of the challenges faced by kinship families. They agreed that an awareness week for kinship families should become a national priority.
2018
The first ever Kinship Care Week is held across England and Wales, in partnership with Kinship Carers Liverpool.
Since 2020
Kinship Care Week is now national event, held every October to highlight the amazing work kinship carers do. Read more about what happened in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 2024 and 2025.
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