Ruth Maxwell is urging local people to go along to the information sessions being organised by the Southern Health and Social Care Trust as part of Fostering Fortnight (12th-25th May).
In the Southern Trust there are 423 children and young people in care. Over 228 of these are placed in foster care, cared for by 250 foster carers.
The Trust is always looking for new foster carers from all backgrounds to care for children who cannot be looked after within their own families. This could be for a number of reasons for example, health or social issues, relationship problems or lack of support. Fostering provides security and stability for a child in such circumstances.
Ruth, from Banbridge, is married with four grown up children and has been a foster carer for 34 years.
"I myself was a foster child, so I had experienced the difference it could make to a young person's life," says Ruth. "I knew from an early age that I wanted to do something to help children.
"My family have grown up with fostering so it is a way of life for us. Our house is like a ceili house with plenty of people coming and going, we really enjoy the buzz," she continued.
"I started off with pre-adoption fostering, then moved to short-term, before long-term and then on to respite and emergency. I now provide fostering for any of these situations and also take children with special needs. In total I have cared for 168 children over the years from babies to teenagers."
To find out if you would like to be a foster carer Ruth recommends that you attend one of the information evenings organised by the Trust.
"You will get to hear how the whole process works from experienced foster carers. If you are interested you will receive a visit from a social worker from the Family Placement Team who will guide you through the process. Throughout the years I have dealt with many social workers and have always found them very supportive."
On the challenges of fostering Ruth says: "Some children are very vulnerable and unsettled when they come to you, through circumstances that are not their fault. You just have to treat every child as unique and give them the care that you would give your own children.
"However, it is lovely to watch children respond to the love they get from a family and the professional support that they receive. There are lots of success stories."
Ruth says she has really enjoyed her 34 years of fostering and the more she does it, the more she enjoys it.
"It is very rewarding to work with young people and I just hope that I have given them as much as they have given me. Sometimes ex-foster children keep in touch with me and I love to know how they are getting on. The door is always open to them. I urge people who are thinking of fostering just to go and do it. Don't leave it to others. People like me are getting older, so we need more new foster carers in the system."
Allowances are paid to cover the cost of caring for children.