Being fostered made a 'real difference to my life'

A man who was fostered as a child said he would have "turned out a different person" if he had not had the experience of foster care.

Grant Calder, 52, was fostered in Plymouth when he was 12 after being in a children's home and said it made a "real difference to my life".

A new campaign has been launched in the city to recruit 26 foster parents in 2026 and Calder said he wanted to encourage families to make a difference to a child.

Matt Smith, part of charity Safe Families and Home for Good, said more than 520 children were in care in Plymouth, with only about 120 fostering households able to support them.

He said the shortage of foster families meant children were being placed further away from the area.

"We've been trying to help prevent children from getting into the care system in the first place," he said.

"We were looking at the number of children in the care system and we thought, 'we have to do something about this'."

The initiative has been set up by Plymouth City Council, Foster for Plymouth and churches across the city.

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Calder said being fostered as a child "was a positive experience".

"[In a children's home] you don't get much individual care. When you're put into a foster home you see the family dynamics," he said.

"There's more care towards you. It's a real difference.

"I see it partly as my job to help others. I've been through the system, I know what it's like.

"If I can give any encouragement to either children or foster families I will do, it's an important thing."

Hamish and Rachel Mcdonald, from Plymouth, have been foster parents since 2003.

They have three of their own children and wanted to help other children and young people.

"We felt we had the capacity to help children who needed a home," Rachel Mcdonald said.

"Our home, anyone that comes into it, we wanted it to feel like a home.

"We've got such an empathy for others which I don't think would've come if we hadn't shared our home with a variety of different children and young adults."

Hamish Mcdonald added: "It can be challenging, not that it's ever the children's fault, but the children can come with a variety of different difficulties or behaviours.

"You have to think of your own children if you have children at home and whether there's a conflict of interest."

He said: "As long as you're aware of the challenges and you've got support around you.

"You often have a supervising social worker who's often very supportive, wealth of experience and willing to try different strategies."

Families can register their interest via an online form.

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