He and his wife have been fostering for more than 25 years. You could say they've made a bit of a career out of it. And as part of Peterborough City Council's promotional campaign for new foster parents (on Hereward FM ) I'd been invited to meet and interview him, and others like him.

His story involved an abused girl they'd taken into their home, who, at first, couldn't cope with being in the same room as him.

She'd been that badly treated, that un-loved and distressed, there seemed little hope for her. She'd lost all her trust, and was basically one big bag of nerves. But thanks to her new home, safe and secure, she'd turned her life around and healed.

So much so, that not long before I met him, this chap had walked down a church aisle and actually given her away.

Fostering (or adopting) someone else's children appears on the surface to me to be a daunting prospect. Hard work, and with the risk that you might get a child that doesn't fit into your own family very well. The sort of thing to leave to others.

But meeting real everyday folk who do it, and learning why they do it, has given me a whole new perspective on the issue. Having seen how rewarding giving a child a home can be, it's now something I (and even more so my wife) am seriously looking at.

Kids need foster care for a variety of reasons. Some families may have hit crisis point and are desperate for help. Other times the child may have been subject to abuse or neglect. Fostering can be for the short-term, like a night or two, to a few weeks or months, and sometimes even longer.

Adoption is a lifelong commitment. It's about providing a permanent family for a child in care who cannot, for whatever reason, return home. It's the security and stability of a family home that makes it such a positive option for children.

And right now there is a scary shortage of people in our city who want to do it.

Last week, once again, I was invited to meet more amazing people, who open up their homes to children in need. And I have offered my support to the new campaign, which has the catchy name of Families Wanted. So if you perceive the idea of letting a strange child into the bed of your spare bedroom as too demanding or daunting, then look away now.

But, if you feel like exploring the prospect a bit more, if you feel like you may have the patience and space required, then point the mouse on your computer right now to www.familieswanted.co.uk.