WHEN Chris Coward gave up her job as a mortgage adviser and went back to college in her 50s, she intended to become a social worker.

But a year after completing her degree, she and her husband Malcolm became foster carers and, seven years later, they haven’t looked back.

The couple, of West Swindon, are supporting an appeal from charity Community Foster Care for more adults to consider fostering during Foster Care Fortnight, which runs until May 26.

Chris, 57, said: “When I finished my degree, my dad was ill and I wanted to do something that fitted in with looking after him and keeping my social work skills going.

“Our three children were growing up – one had left home and the other two were 25 and 19.

“Fostering fits in so well and it’s really interesting. You come across so many different people and situations. It gives you a sense that you have actually helped someone quite vulnerable out of an awful situation.”

In Wiltshire, there are more than 400 children in care, under the age of 18.

For Malcolm, fostering struck a personal chord. At the age of 11 he and his nine-year-old brother were sent to a Dr Barnardo’s children’s home because their mother, a lone parent, couldn’t cope with her four children alone. He stayed there until he was 16.

Malcolm, 65, said: “While I wasn’t ill-treated, it gave me more empathy with foster children. I have some idea of what they are going through – that sense of isolation. My opening gambit when children come through the door is that the only enemy they’ll find here is the weather.”

Chris and Malcolm have fostered two teenagers in the last seven years. A 13-year-old boy lived with them for five years until he was 18. They are now caring for a 14-year-old girl.

Chris said: “One of my proudest moments was when the teenage boy with us, who’d been really disruptive, won the school prize for the best behaved pupil in his school. Little things like that mean the most – watching them relax and lose the stress that makes their lives so difficult.”

Chris Cawkwell, registered manager for CFC, said: “There is always a need for good foster carers – people able to offer empathy and understanding and who are willing to open their home to a vulnerable young person.

“Through no fault of their own, these children need to be looked after. They are hurt and vulnerable. But all have great potential.

“Being placed in a foster home gives them stability and the opportunity to rebuild their lives and start believing that they can have a future.”

There are different types of fostering: short-term, long-term, emergency same-day placements, and parent and child assessment placements.

Foster carers can come from all walks of life and can be single, married or divorced; employed or unemployed; male or female; gay or straight. They need to be aged between 25 and 70. Becoming a foster carer generally takes about six months and involves a thorough training and vetting process.

For more information visit www.communityfostercare.co.uk.