A single foster dad from Reading is calling for more men to consider fostering this Father’s Day.
Mark Pickford started his fostering journey in 2008 with local agency FCA Thames Valley. He’s fostered seven children over the years, but has been fostering his 17-year-old foster daughter since 2013.
When Mark started fostering it was alongside his wife, but as his life changed and his marriage broke down, his commitment to his foster children never wavered and he decided to continue fostering as a single man.
Mark said: “Before I became a foster parent someone asked me ‘have you thought about fostering?’ because they thought I’d be really good at working with children without me even realising it. I just thought, yeah why not give it a go?”
After years of factory work, fostering was a way for him to lead a more ‘fulfilling and meaningful lifestyle’, he said: “It can be really difficult sometimes, I’ve supported children with a number of complex conditions and really difficult family circumstances.
“Every night for two years I had to sit outside my foster daughter’s bedroom door at night until she felt safe enough to go to sleep, but after that, she did it and that was an amazing achievement for her.
“This job is making a difference every single day. It allows me to build connections and a foundation of support for children who have sometimes experienced awful things. Why would you not want to do that?”
While fostering is seen as a typically female role, Mark believes that men make great foster parents and that more single men should consider fostering as a way to make a difference and use their people skills.
He said: “You’ve got to be calm. You’ve got to have humour. You’ve got to have thick skin. Fostering has definitely taught me resilience but it’s also a way to show children what a positive male role model looks like, something they might not have seen before.
“I’ve done lots of training and to be honest I find it quite therapeutic. Sometimes when the kids throw challenges at you you have to remember what you’ve learnt and the reasons they exhibit certain behaviours, it’s not personal and it’s up to us to be a constant source of stability for them.
“My foster daughter isn’t my real daughter, but I love her like she is. Over the years we’ve built a real father-daughter bond and connection, she’s never had that before. Even though she’s a teenager now, that bond won’t be going away.”
In Reading there are more than 250 children being fostered according to the latest government statistics on children in care by location, and more foster parents urgently needed to provide them with a loving and stable home.
If you think you could foster with FCA Thames Valley, visit the website: https://www.thefca.co.uk/regions/thames-valley/ or call 0800 023 4561.
