Manda from Asda Liscard shares her experience as a foster carer

Manda Davidson from our Liscard store looks after local groups and good causes in her role as an Asda community champion – and when she's not as work she looks after children in need of a stable, loving home as a foster carer.

Manda, who's 61 and a former nursery nurse, began fostering nine years ago with her husband Dean when their own children had grown up and left home.

She said: "Becoming a foster carer was something I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. After the children had flown the nest my husband and I decided to start fostering. We chose to go with an agency and the process was thorough and training brilliant.

"For the last nine years we have had nine different children unaccompanied minors; emergency placements; respite for siblings (one time we had four!) but for eight of those years it was as a long-term placement to a brother and sister now both over 18.

"The latest chapter started with two girls of primary school age arrived last month and will be with us until they're 18. Fostering for me has been a blessing, having bonus children in my extended family – they have been part of weddings and are like aunties and uncles to my own grandchildren.

"But creating memories and firsts for the children is something I hold very close. Going on a plane, visiting London, taking part in competitions across the UK. Celebrating exam success and special birthdays fills my heart. It's not always a smooth ride but the highs definitely exceed the lows."

Manda joined Asda ahead of Christmas in 2024 and became our Liscard store's community champion soon after. She says the support of everyone at the store makes fostering much easier.

She said: "A lot of people think you need to stop working to be a foster carer but you don't. I have been lucky that Asda have been brilliant with that.

"The store have been great to me because at the moment I need to spend a little extra time with these children and they've been flexible with my hours. If I have had a problem I have had so much support and it's been brilliant.

"Being an Asda community champion is a privilege of a job. I have been so fortunate to meet so many wonderful people in the community and to help them through Asda is an absolute delight. I have got to know my colleagues over the last 12 months or so and I love that some of them come up to me asking if I can help this group or that group and asking how they can help and support. I know my colleagues in the store want to help the local community as much as I do."

Manda fosters through National Fostering Group – an agency with more than 3,000 foster carers across the UK.

Michelle Davies, Registered Manager at NFA NW part of National Fostering Group, said: "Manda is a brilliant example of what being a foster carer can look like when it’s truly supported.

"She speaks with real pride about her role at Asda, alongside caring for children. The support from work, at home and from the agency, creates the stability children need to thrive. It’s exactly the kind of impact we see every day at National Fostering Group."

Manda said: "The UK is crying out for foster carers so if telling my story speaks to someone countrywide then that's wonderful.

"Fostering is like being a parent, though there are restrictions and I have a social worker myself. There's quite a bit of training involved and the children have to be seen every six weeks. I have to keep a log of things we do – when they go to the dentist, doctor, when they have contact with their parents, their school achievements – all those things have to be recorded.

"It's giving children who otherwise wouldn't have had an opportunity a chance to experience what life can be like. A lot of them never had birthday parties or had activities outside school.

"I have just been in Asda buying bedding and decorations because they're doing things we take for granted, like designing their new bedroom. The moment they walk through the door they're part of the family and when they leave they're still part of the family. You experience a lot of firsts – their GCSEs, getting their driving licence and become really proud of them.

"I'm just a normal person who has an open heart love to give. I've found out how special it is to share my life with young people. I have had plenty of support through the agency, work and friends.

"I said to one of the girls that I'm excited about you being with us and her face lit up. I have got grandchildren who are older than these children and I have two of my grandchildren everyday who are four and seven and they are going to grow up almost like siblings. My family are brilliant – they open their arms to the children coming in and welcome them as members of the family."