A mother who has been caring for other people's children for the past 14 years is helping to launch a new recruitment drive to find foster carers.

Christine Dore, 49, from Witney, who has a son of her own aged 18, has cared for about 24 foster children.

Christine DoreShe said: "I feel as though I am doing something rewarding with my life - the children keep in touch with me, even after they go home. I once received a Mother's Day card from a girl I had fostered which said, 'You have been like a mother to me.'

"You get bad times but mostly you get good times. It's very rewarding."

The campaign is part of the National Foster Care Fortnight, taking place from today through to June 15.

There are 460 children in the care system in Oxfordshire, including 150 children with disabilities who need respite care.

Although more than 65 per cent of children in care in the county are placed in foster care, there are 250 foster carers. There are never enough foster carers, with more children queuing for places.

Oxfordshire County Council's manager of fostering, Fran Fonseca, said: "We need more foster carers here in Oxfordshire, people like Christine who could provide homes in which brothers and sisters can stay together and where school-age children can live near their communities."

An open meeting about fostering will take place at County Hall, Oxford, on Thursday, June 7, from 10am to noon.