There are 600 children in care in Nottingham, including 12 babies. But the council needs more carers who are black or Asian. Matt Laddin reports.

Raising children can be challenging - helping them with their first hesitant steps, waving them off at the school gate, guiding them through their first young crush.

If raising just one child is difficult, then raising 20 children for most parents would be near impossible.

But not for Mavis. Over the last nine years her small St Ann's home has seen more than 20 children come and go. She's remembered 20 birthdays, the names of 20 best friends, and 20 favourite meals.

As a foster mum to black and mixed race children, she has comforted youngsters through hard times - she's helped the young ones who feel neglected, the naughty ones who play truant, and those that have faced up to playground bullies.

And she's done it all knowing that one day soon the children may be leaving. Perhaps they will go back to their families. Perhaps as they grow older they will just decide to move on.

"People always say to me that what I do must be really hard. They don't know how I cope with looking after so many children - but because I love kids I find it easy," said Mavis.

"I first fostered a little boy 11 years ago - he was two months old at the time. That was the start really, in the time since then I've looked after more than 20 children.

"It's the most rewarding thing in the world helping a child, knowing that you might have made a difference to a child's life."

Mavis, 46, has given up work to look after youngsters full time. At the moment she is caring for six children, not including her own 20-year-old daughter, Cleo.

She is currently caring for two seven-year-old girls, and four boys - aged seven months, four, eight and nine.

The older five children have all been placed in Mavis's long-term foster care. That means they can stay with her until they decide to move on.

She said: "Kids can sometimes come into your care in a bit of a state, but two years down the line they will be doing so well.

"At first it did upset me when they had to leave, but it's something I've come to live with. Sometimes they go back to their families, and then that can sometimes not work out and they end up back with me. "Kids are always welcome here, and I try and keep in touch with everyone I've looked after. In fact I'm actually godmother to one young boy who's now back with his grandmother."	'Black children need a good sense of their own identity'

With a growing number of children having to be looked after by social services, more and more foster families are needed. The Nottingham City Fostering and Adoption Service is keen to encourage more black and Asian parents to act as long-term carers.

Adoption service worker Janine Smith said: "We urgently need more carers - for instance we need Asian carers to look after a nine-year-old Sikh girl.

"We also need people to adopt or foster 12 babies and young black and mixed race children, and three young children of Asian origin."

She added: "It's important that these kids are adopted by carers from black and mixed couples or single parent families, people who are familiar with their culture, customs, food, language and religion.

"This is necessary because black children need to develop and maintain a good sense of their own identity as they move towards adulthood.

"We're looking for people who have a genuine interest in caring for young people, enjoy lots of energy and an ability to support an upset or difficult child. Mavis is a perfect example of a person who has dedicated so much to young kids."

Mavis said: "There is such a great need for more black foster carers. Unfortunately there are a lot of black kids in care now, and it's a shame that more members of the community haven't come forward. I think they would get so much out of fostering.

"It's the most rewarding thing in the world, and I love every minute of it."

Nottingham City Council is looking for people of all ages to be foster carers. They can be married, single or co-habiting and can rent or own their own property. For more information call 0115 9151234.