Couple mark 30 years of fostering

A couple who have been fostering for 30 years have joined a campaign calling for more people to come forward as foster carers.

Kerry and Graham Christopher have welcomed more than 60 youngsters into their family and say some of them return as adults to visit.

"They're grown up, they're in their 30s, they've got successful careers, they have happy homes, they have stable relationships and they're successfully parenting their children – so in some cases, it's broken a cycle," Kerry Christopher said.

"They're just getting on with life and that is our biggest reward."

There is currently a big drive in Cheshire to get more people to foster, with hundreds of children in need of support.

There are more than 4,000 children in the county currently in care but only 1,100 people registered as foster carers.

Neil McCarthy from the National Fostering Group said there was a "desperate need" for people to come forward.

"There's a national shortage of foster carers across the UK, and in fact that's gone up by 14% just this year," he said.

"Lots of people will say 'I can't foster because…' and our starting point is 'you can foster'.

"If you've got a spare room and you've got time, you've got stability, you've got the ability to offer love and support, then you can."

The Christophers, who first began fostering in 1996, said it was something they spoke about even before they were married.

In the 1960s, Graham Christopher's parents were also foster carers in a time before social work and foster care were established practices.

His wife said she had been driving to nursery with her own children when she heard an appeal on the radio, and this prompted her to contact her local authority.

The couple were approved a year later, and three months after that they welcomed their first foster children.

"What we're saying is, if you've got a spare room, pick up the phone and have a conversation with the National Fostering Group because we've got foster carer and agencies and support all over the UK," McCarthy said.

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