The Good Hearted Gangster, Jason Flemyng

Actor Jason Flemyng is known for roles in British cult crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Hollywood’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the BBC’s The Missing. Acting apart, there’s another role close to his heart, the longstanding children’s charity, Barnardo’s.

With 20 years in the business, you might expect Jason to be a little jaded. But the actor is determined to give back, and supporting Barnardo’s work with young people seems the perfect place to start.

The LAMDA-trained actor sees self-confidence as integral to personal development. “Even though it was a struggle for my mum bringing two boys up on her own, I realise how important it was to have a loving parent and someone who supported you,” he reflects.

“It had always been my dream to be a professional actor and my mum said: ‘If that’s what you want to do, that’s what you want to do.’ I was a very lucky boy and I had the support to do what I needed in order to do what I wanted to do.

“I realise now it never really occurred to me that you couldn’t go for what you couldn’t go for because I was always given the opportunity to do that.”

It was only as an adult that Jason realised how lack of encouragement and opportunity could have a significant impact. Working in Glasgow, he befriended an unemployed family and gave them the chance to work and earn as supporting actors, but they failed to turn up and made excuses.

“Eventually, I realised that actually, just going through that front door was almost an impossible mountain for them to climb. It’s to do with confidence; it’s the belief that you’re valid to do that.

Jason saw Barnardo’s as going some way to solving this cyclical problem. “People are impatient with the long term unemployed for not achieving what they could achieve but they don’t understand that it has to start a lot younger, to get that step through the door.”

The right home environment can make a massive difference, says Jason, father of sons Cassius and Noah.

“I’ve just left my friend’s house who has fostered a four-year-old boy. They’ve been with the kid for two months tops. Before that, he has never slept a night. He’d wake 12, 15 times a night. Now, he’s sleeping through the night. And that’s a really good reflection – obviously it’s an amazing success and not standard – but it’s fantastic.”

There is an urgent recruitment target for 8,600 more foster carers in the UK. To find out more about fostering visit www.barnardos.org.uk/fostering or call 08000 277 280.