Fosterman – Fostering Blog.
With some of the lockdown restrictions soon to be lifted I thought it would be a good idea to think of some things to do with James (name changed) to get us out and about. Having spent so may months within the same area, it would be good to get out and about and visit somewhere different.
I have always loved being by the sea, so maybe a day out by the coast somewhere. Whitstable is a favourite place of mine but I didn’t know if James would find it very exciting. So in the end I decided we would do Broadstairs and, if we had time, stop at Canterbury on the way home.
I mentioned this to James and he asked if Paige could join us. I had no problem with that and he rushed off to ring Paige and ask her if she’d be interested, which she was. So we arranged a day and that was put in the diary.
I was asked, today, if I would be interested in taking part in another Webinar about men in Fostering. I agreed, as long as the participants of the Webinar reflected the subject and that it was mainly men. I was sent a list and, to be fair, it was two thirds men.
I also received an email from a male gay couple who had been given my email address by the guy I spoke to at the last Webinar. They wanted to know about Fostering and how would they be viewed. Now my experience of gay men in Fostering is very limited and I have only ever spoken to one guy who hadn’t had a very positive experience. So I just told them my experience, as a man, in Fostering and told them how positive it was, in general.
I had an email back, almost immediately, asking if they could talk on the phone, which I accepted. A guy called within five minutes and introduced himself as Tom (name changed). Tom had been in care himself and had a very positive experience with some very nice Foster Carers. He had stayed with them for many years and they had really treated him well and he was still in regular contact with them many years after he had left.
Based on his experience he wanted to give something back and become a Foster Carer. Although he didn’t have any issues with being a man in Fostering he was worried about how his sexuality would be affect his application.
He told me that he was in a long term relationship and his partner was fully supportive. I told him to be upfront and honest about his situation and he should be treated like any other prospective Foster Carer.
I asked him to keep in touch and let me know how it went and he promised he would.
The rest of my day involved all the normal stuff, housework, meal preparation, answering email and letters and buying a shiny new TV. Well the other one was ok but I wanted a new Smart TV and decided that I deserved it. James got home and sat and did the little bit of homework that he had.
We had dinner and James loaded the dishwasher. We then sat and watched football, just for a change!
Fosterman Blog – A Simply Fostering Blogging Foster Carer.
