“I thought being single and working full-time were barriers to fostering”

Business Support Manager Emma Collins has been fostering local children for six months after discovering that being single and working full-time are not barriers to being a foster carer.

The 53-year-old, who lives in Dukinfield, is single, works full-time for Tameside Council’s engineering service and has two biological children of her own, aged 23 and 27.

She wanted to tell her story to highlight Foster Care Fortnight (11th to 24th May), which raises awareness of the impact of foster care and aims to inspire others to consider fostering, as well as providing a chance to show appreciation and thanks to all of the local foster carers who open their hearts and homes to local children and young people.

This year’s theme is ‘This Is Fostering’. The campaign is organised by The Fostering Network and supported by the council, which is looking for more residents to become foster carers to offer safe, stable and nurturing homes to give children and young people the best start in life.

Emma first spoke to the council’s Fostering team at the Tameside Spring Jobs Fair in 2025, while representing the council’s Engineering team at her own stall.

Emma was surprised to learn that being single, working full-time and living alone didn’t prevent her from becoming a foster carer, as she had not been aware of the different types of fostering.

The different types of fostering include short-term, long-term, emergency, short-break, specialist, parent and child fostering, fostering for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and supported lodgings.

After finding out more, Emma became an emergency and respite foster carer with Tameside Council for children aged between 0 and 10 years old.

Respite foster care is a short-term arrangement where a foster child stays with a different foster family for a limited period of time. The main purpose is to give the child’s primary foster carers a break, while ensuring the child remains in a safe, supportive environment.

Emergency foster care is when immediate action is required to take care of a child. As such, these instances occur at very short notice, often with only a few hours’ warning and at any time of the day or night. Emergency foster carers look after a child on a temporary basis until a care-plan for the child is established.

Emma said: “It’s so flexible, which is perfect as it fits in with my lifestyle. If I’ve got something social like going out with my friends or a show, I can still do it, and if I want to go on holiday, I can just block it out and say I’m not available.”

Since becoming a foster carer in November 2025, Emma has cared for eight children, with placements ranging from one to eight days.

Emma told how she felt really positive about the start of her fostering journey: “I love it, I absolutely love it! People have even reached out to me to speak about fostering, as they’re considering it themselves.

“My favourite part is when you get the feedback from the foster carers saying they want you to care for the children again and they were really happy with you.

“I cared for a child over Christmas, and a few weeks later their foster carer and the child turned up at my door with a bunch of flowers and a personalised card.

 “People really do build a community around each other and fostering full-time is definitely something I’d like to do when I retire, if I had a bigger house, I’d be caring for more kids!”

Emma works at Tameside Council, which is a Foster Friendly Employer. This means that foster carers will receive an additional 10 days’ annual leave, extra support from their manager and more.

Emma was keen to advocate for this, as she highlighted how this has helped her to adapt her work schedule to be there for any children in her care.

Emma said: “My boss is so accommodating, as I usually work 7.30am to 4pm every day, but I can’t do that when I’ve got children to drop off and pick up from school, and he understands and they allow me to do it.

“I find it beneficial and I want to promote working for a Foster Friendly Employer as I think it’s really important that everyone is aware of how it can support you as a foster carer.”

To anyone considering becoming a foster carer, Emma said: “Just give it a go, there’s nothing to lose because even if you do your first placement and you decide it’s not for you, you can stop, it’s not a lifelong commitment.

“As long as you find it a pleasure and you’re doing it for the right reasons you’re going to thrive doing it.”

Anyone can foster as long as applicants are 21 years or older, have a spare room (unless you’re fostering a child under the age of two), and can offer a safe and loving home.

The council provides full training, including online opportunities to increase flexibility, support and an allowance.

Tameside Council and local foster carers run regular drop-in sessions both in-person and online. See a full list of ‘Let’s Talk Fostering’ sessions here.

Anyone who has been inspired by Emma to enquire is encouraged to get in touch by calling 0300 303 0321, emailing enquire@fosterforgm.com or visiting www.fosterforgm.com/tameside