FOR Claire and Gary Carter, the foster placements they take in aren't coming to live with their family - they ARE their family.

"It's not work, it's not effort, it's what our family is," says Claire simply.

"If there wasn't someone staying here, that would feel abnormal."

Since they started fostering seven years ago, the pair, and their two daughters Paige and Sophie, now 11 and nine, have shared their home with more than 30 children and young people.

These have been a mixture of short and long-term placements, with twelve of them staying for between one and six years.

More recently, they have also taken on parent and child placements, often helping to prevent the children from being taken into care.

For Claire, fostering has always been part of her family.

"My Nanna fostered during the War and I was told lots of stories of the children who

went to stay with her," says Claire.

"Two of those children are part of my family now, an auntie and uncle.

"Once we'd had Sophie, our second child, I had a real urge to try to help some other children along the way.

"Once you've had your own children, your life's changed forever, so popping a couple of extra in really doesn't make a difference!

"You're trying to help some other children while raising your own."

The couple's first placement was a respite period for three boys, which coincided with their family holiday in Cornwall, so the boys came on holiday with them.

"It was a challenge and opened our eyes to some of the issues that the young people are trying to cope with at a young age," says Claire.

A number of the children and young people who the couple has fostered have been with them until they reached adulthood and Claire says that she sees around ten of the former placements as permanent members of her own family, despite the fact that they are no longer under her roof.

One of these people was a young man, who initially came to stay when he was 16 on an emergency placement for two weeks.

Daily Echo: Claire and Gary Carter who have fostered more than 30 young people.              Photograph: Chris Moorhouse.

"The social worker said he would definitely run away and not to worry about it.

"He came on the Friday and on the Sunday he said 'can you ring my social worker tomorrow. I don't really want to leave in a couple of weeks,'" says Claire.

"The social worker couldn't believe that he hadn't run away and that he wanted to stay with us. At every other placement he'd run away within 24 hours.

"It was the most successful placement we've done. He was able to regress back to being a child, where he'd fast-forwarded into growing up, and accept being nurtured, which he hadn't had for a long time."

Recently, the couple broadened out to taking young mothers with babies.

"I was working for Southampton contact scheme, supervising contact between parents and their babies who had been taken into care," explains Claire.

"The mum told me her perspective on why the child was taken into care and I thought 'I wonder if she'd been placed with me if that would have had a different outcome' because I got on really well with her."

Claire signed up to the scheme and since then has had seven parent and child placements, for between six months and six years.

So how does she feel about being woken up by other people's babies, having long since left that period behind with her own children?

"I don't find crying babies annoying," she says.

"It's their way of talking to you. It's nice being able to give guidance to the mum about what the cry might be indicating and watch them learn and develop their skills in front of you.

"How involved I am depends on what the local authority needs from the placement. If they need us to be up at night with the mother tending to the baby, we are. I remind myself that it's temporary, and I will get back to sleep!"

Daily Echo: Claire and Gary Carter who have fostered more than 30 young people              Photograph: Chris Moorhouse.

Claire explains that the dynamic is different with her regular foster placements and parent and child placements.

"We have to find that balance with the parents between them living independently and being part of the family," she explains.

"As the placement develops, it's really important the parent is displaying independent living skills."

Claire says that as well as helping the young people who they have fostered, fostering has been beneficial to her own children.

"I think we've all developed and grown," she says.

"Our children have a different perspective on life to other children their age. They have a real understanding that life isn't always 'normal', whatever that is.

"I think it's been a really good experience for everyone.

"It's been tough at times, obviously, but I've got no regrets about fostering.

"You can't regret being able to help someone else."

GEMMA'S STORY

One of the parent and child placements who came to live with Claire and Gary was Gemma* and her baby boy.

"At first I thought it wouldn't work but they made me feel so welcome and I learnt so much," says Gemma, who lived with Claire and Gary for around four months, before moving into her own accommodation with her son.

"They trusted me and supported me - it was a really good experience.

"Claire said 'we're here for you', so I talked to her whenever I needed support."

Gemma says that she soon felt like part of the family and a year and a half after moving out of Claire and Gary's home, still turns to them for advice and support.

• Anyone interested in fostering and taking on parent and child placements: freephone 08005191818, southampton.gov.uk/fostering email fosteringandadoption.recruitment@southampton.gov.uk

"There's actually quite close to me in age, but I feel like they're my mum and dad!" she laughs.

Gemma says she would recommend the experience to any new parents who need help and support.

"I learnt so much from it," she says.

"Whatever they said, big or small, I've kept it in and I've done really well. I'm working and going to college - I wouldn't have done that without their support.

"Some people can make you feel judged, but Claire and Gary always brought hope an peace," she adds.

"They made me feel so welcome. It's because of them, I'm where I am now."

*Not her real name.

Carers receive £722.30 per week for a parent and child placement from Southampton City Council (SCC), making it a viable 'work from home' option.

SCC provides numerous training courses for carers to support placements and their own personal development.