Foster care fortnight: Meet Gwent’s male foster carers

Foster care fortnight 2021 runs from May 10 to May 23 and the theme is #WhyWeCare.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has spoken male foster carers around Gwent to find out more about how they became involved.

Mike Foster – Newport

Former pub landlord, Mike Foster, has been a foster carer for 10 years and has looked after around 30 different children during that time.

He stumbled across fostering after his business collapsed.

He said: “I was at a crossroads.

“I started a window cleaning business and fell off a ladder, breaking my leg.

“I was housebound for about eight months and it gave me a chance to reassess everything and decided that’s what I wanted to do.”

Mr Foster said he’d made enquiries many years before but didn’t know any foster carers at the time.

He said: “The reason I do it is because these children need a responsible caring capable adult in their lives.

“Seeing the children gain confidence and self-esteem is very satisfying and equipping them for a life of untold opportunities that they never even dreamed of before.”

Robin McKie – Monmouthshire

Robin McKie of Caerleon is a foster carer for Monmouthshire council.

The former lorry driver has fostered more than 30 young people since 2007.

He has spent the last four years working for the council as a foster carer.

Mr McKie said: “I did work for an agency.

“The child I had was a Monmouthshire looked after child and the care and support I got was from Monmouthshire was fantastic.”

He said fostering is “the most difficult job in the world and it is the best job in the world.

Mr McKie said: “I am the rock for these kids, I am not the lighthouse or the beacon, I am the rock that the lighthouse stands on.

“You have to give these kids some form of stability.”

For those that are considering fostering, Mr McKie said: “Look into it carefully, think about it long and hard.

“Talk to your friends its not just you who fosters its your whole social network.

“Because you want to give that child as good a life as you can and that involves going out socially.”

Gary Edwards and Stephen Billingham – Caerphilly

Stephen Billingham (L) And Gary Edwards (R)

Mr Edwards and Mr Billingham have been fostering with Caerphilly council for 16 months.

Fostering is always something Mr Billingham has wanted to do.

He said: “My sister was a foster carer, and our children are now grown up so we thought we would jump at the chance to support young people.

“It’s fulfilled our lives we feel we have more purpose doing things as a family and it’s a great excuse to go to the cinema to watch a Disney film.

“Behavioural issues can be a challenge, but you can face it as a family and support the children by encouraging and nurturing them.”

Aside from Mr Billingham’s sister fostering, they have friends who foster with Caerphilly council, who encouraged them to apply.

Speaking about whether he’d recommend it, Mr Billingham said: “If you’ve got the time and energy then definitely give it a go.”

“You can make a big difference to a child or children’s lives.

“All they need is some stability and a bit of a home life.”

John Reardon – Torfaen

John Reardon (right), and friend

John Reardon has been a kinship foster carer for nearly six years. This means he looks after a family member who cannot live with their birth parents.

Mr Reardon said: “The hardest challenge for us in our role has been in dealing with the problems associated with a split in the family, as seems to be the case with a lot of kinship carers.

“This also impacts on the child or children in the care system, and to help and guide them through this part is very often exasperated, by family members saying and sometimes doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.”

But Mr Reardon said the positive has been seeing “her excel in almost everything that she has tried to achieve”.