Homes of hope

WHEN little Isabel Hines drew a picture of her family recently - there were six people in the painting - including her mum and dad, brother and sister and Tabitha.

The child's drawing illustrates just how close the Hines family has become to Tabitha - the 13-year-old girl they have fostered since the age of seven.

When she first came to stay with Lucy, 33, and Martin, 42, Tabitha was only supposed to stay for two weeks to give her mother Lorraine, a single parent suffering from the degenerative brain disorder, Huntington's chorea, a much-needed break.

"But something about her struck a chord with us. Then aged seven, she was funny, sweet and always smiling, and when it was time for her to return home I didn't want to let her go.

"When the placement ended we kept in touch with both Tabitha and her mother so when, several months later, Lorraine asked us if we could help look after her daughter when she became too ill to do it herself, we didn't hesitate for a moment.

"As far as we were concerned, Tabitha was already part of our family and we were honoured to help in any way we could," recalled Lucy.

As her mother's condition degenerated so the links with the family grew stronger until Tabitha moved in full-time one-and-a-half years ago.

She still visits her mum twice a week at the residential care home where she now lives and the Hines are there to support her through the difficult times ahead.

"I know I'll always be Tabitha's second mum and that I'll never take Lorraine's place - and I'd never want to.

"For me it's enough to know that Tabitha is happy," said Lucy.

A strong bond has been formed across the family and all the children get on well together.

"Tabitha gets on very well with our eldest daughter Amie who is 16. They have the same interests and they go to the same school.

"Fostering can be difficult at times but there are great rewards. We came into it because we wanted to do something to help children in care.

"We started off just offering respite care. We had two children of our own and we thought it would be fun to have another child with us to enjoy the weekend.

"We ended up taking on more placements than planned just because we couldn't say no.

"If everyone gave up just one weekend a month to help these children, there wouldn't be a shortage of foster carers in the city," she said.

Up to 250 children are currently living in care in Southampton - and they need your help.

Eighty new carers are desperately needed to help look after these youngsters.

Fostering is a way of offering children and young people a home while their own parents are unable to look after them.

It is often a temporary arrangement and many fostered children return to their own families.

Children who cannot return home but want to stay in touch with their own families often live with a long-term foster carer.

Anyone can apply to be a foster carer as long as they have what it takes to care for children separated from their own families.

There is no age limit for being a foster mum or dad.

You don't need to be married. You can be single, lesbian or gay or living together to foster.

Foster carers are needed from all ethnic backgrounds.

People with disabilities can foster.

You don't need to own your own home, have plenty of cash or work - what's important is that you have warmth and enthusiasm.

And fostering can be for as little as one day a month.

Jeanie Lynch, fostering recruitment officer, said: "Roughly 250 children in the city live in foster care. Even though social services have 200 registered foster carers, it is not enough. Another 80 are desperately needed."

Anyone interested in fostering can call Foster Care Services on 023 8079 9142.