ACTOR David Metcalfe – David Pollard in Emmerdale – was on the TV soap’s set to meet young people who have helped make a new advert aimed at finding more foster carers.

City of York Council has teamed up with North Yorkshire County Council, East Riding Council, and three other authorities in Yorkshire to organise the campaign. The advert will run for two weeks from May 17 to May 30, coinciding with national Fostering Fortnight, and will be screened during Emmerdale.

Mary McKelvey, York’s fostering manager, said: “We need more foster carers so we can keep children and young people who need foster care in York, but we simply don’t have enough foster carers to meet this need. Working with other councils across the Yorkshire region means that we can run TV ads appealing for foster carers. We hope that we’ll get a lot of interest.”

The ads feature a series of fun images of children and young people with their carers, focusing on the qualities that people need to become foster carers.

For more information about fostering, phone 0800 540540.