The devoted foster mother believes every child has a right to a childhood, which is why she continually opens her home to children from all over the city.

"Children come into fostering for a number of reasons," says Jacqueline, "when a parent has no family here and might need their children looked after for a couple of days.

"A lot of people see these children as being bad and (think] that is why they are in foster care but there is another side to this.

"It is not the child's fault but a lot of people blame them. How can they be responsible for what happens? They have a right to a childhood."

Jacqueline and her husband who live in the Culmore area, decided to volunteer their home so they could make a difference to the lives of children who needed help.

She said: "We had no family at the time and we didn't know if we would have any.

"But we waited until we had a house outside of town. Then we applied for it and they sent us an information pack and gave us time to read it.

"They came out and had a chat to us about it and to see if it was really what we wanted to do.

"So that was the starting point for the assessment."

There is no pressurise to go through with it, says Jacqueline, and people can say no at any time if they feel it wouldn't suit them.

She said: "They look into everything, family life, medical history and police checks because at the end of the day you are caring for someone else's child. So it is very thorough.

"It is not for the faint hearted, you have to be committed 110 per cent."

Remembering the first time they were entrusted with a child, Jacqueline said she was terrified.

"Our first placement was a new born baby. It was nerve-wrecking. It is just all new to you.

"Fostering is very challenging but also very rewarding. When you see a wee child that is not feeding right and when you see that child over the period of six months and its life is turned around, it's just fantastic.

"The child leaving has to be the hardest part of fostering. Your heart breaks. But when you do short term fostering you know the child is returning home and it is fantastic. We still have contact with some of the children we fostered."

Jacqueline said there were excellent training resources and strong support networks for people hoping to become foster carers and she urged people to take the plunge.

She said: "There are 138 foster carers in the Western Trust area and more than 200 children in foster care.

"The Western Trust has the highest number of foster children which is why it is crying out for more foster parents.

"It could be one weekend a month or one week a month.

"All types of foster parents are needed, and you don't have to have all these big things.

"We are looking for that home where someone can provide just that little bit of care for whatever reason.