A DUKINFIELD mother who works full-time and lives alone is encouraging others to consider fostering after discovering that being single was no barrier to opening her home to local children.
Emma Collins, 53, who works as a Business Support Manager for Tameside Council’s engineering service, became a foster carer six months ago after learning more about the different types of fostering available.
Despite having two grown-up children of her own, aged 23 and 27, Emma admitted she had never seriously considered fostering because she assumed her circumstances would rule her out.
It was only after speaking to the council’s fostering team at the Tameside Spring Jobs Fair in 2025 – while she was there representing the Engineering team at her own stall – that she realised fostering could work around her lifestyle.
She is now an emergency and respite foster carer for children aged between 0 and 10 and has already cared for eight children since starting in November 2025, with placements lasting from one to eight days.
Emma said the flexibility of fostering has made it far easier to balance with work and her personal life than she expected.
She 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.”
Emergency fostering involves stepping in at very short notice when a child urgently needs somewhere safe to stay, while respite fostering offers short-term care to give full-time foster families a break.
Emma says the experience has been incredibly rewarding and has even inspired people around her to start asking questions about fostering themselves.
She said: “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 also praised the support she receives through working for a Foster Friendly Employer, which allows foster carers extra leave and flexibility to meet children’s needs.
She 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.”
As Foster Care Fortnight runs from May 11 to 24, Emma hopes her story will encourage others to take that first step. Her message is simple.
“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,” she added.
“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 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.