Celebrities are backing Barnardo’s and showing the importance of having someone to support you ‘through thick and thin’ in aid of the urgent campaign to find thousands of foster carers to look after the UK’s most vulnerable children.

Singer Paloma Faith, ex TOWIE stars Lydia Bright and Debbie Douglas, Cold Feet actress Fay Ripley, Love Island’s Marcel Somerville, and gold-medal sprinter Jamie Baulch are using #wesupportfostering to share photos of their families and those who have had their backs for Barnardo’s Fostering week, which launched yesterday (January 22).

You can see them all in the photo gallery above.

Mum-of-one Paloma Faith, who shares an archive image of her and her mum as a toddler, is keen to emphasise the importance of having support while bringing up a child.

She said: “Raising a child is so rewarding but it can also be a challenge, so knowing you have someone to help you when you need it makes such a difference.

“Barnardo’s is special because they provide their foster carers with continual support and advice, no matter how big or small the problem.”

There’s a pressing need to find more than 7,000 foster carers in the next 12 months to support children desperately in need of loving families.

The foster carer drive comes as new YouGov research reveals nearly half of Londoners think a lack of support from fostering agencies is likely to put people off fostering.

In stark contrast, a national poll by Barnardo’s of their own foster carers reveals that 82 per cent were happy with the level of support and advice they receive and believed it was 'excellent' or 'good'.

Almost 90 per cent of them also rated Barnardo’s supervising social workers as good or very good.

Barnardo’s ambassador Debbie Douglas, who has fostered more than 200 children over the 25 years, said: “I would urge people to consider fostering as opening your heart and home to a vulnerable child is one of the most rewarding things you can do.

“It can be challenging but the satisfaction of knowing you have helped transform a child’s life for the better is wonderful.”

In London, Barnardo’s is looking to recruit foster carers in areas where there is a more urgent need including Croydon, Bromley, Lewisham, Merton, Sutton, Wandsworth and Kingston-upon-Thames.

To find out more about becoming a foster carer, or the support Barnardo’s can offer visit: barnardos.org.uk/fostering