LIVERPOOL-BORN actor Paul Barber was back in Liverpool to share his experiences of growing up in care with university students.

Three months after being awarded an honorary degree at John Moores University, Barber spent yesterday afternoon talking to students from under- privileged backgrounds as part of the National Care Leavers Week.

He said: “My teachers used to say ‘the Barber family, they’ve come to nothing’. Then, years later, I was taken round my old school and kids were saying ‘That’s Denzil!’. It can be done, that’s what I want to tell people.

“I auditioned for a musical and it was like running away with the circus. If I hadn’t gone for it, I would probably still be in Toxteth, I’d probably have been in the riots.

“Kids in care are not bad kids, they just need encouragement and opportunity.”

This comes as figures were released on adoption rates around the country.

Barber said: “Being in a foster home is not the same as being adopted. I used to feel a sense of rejection when I realised what the difference was. I felt like second best. The adopted kids became part of a new family.

“My foster family got £60 per week per head. It meant they could take their flesh and blood kids shopping, and we would get second-hand clothes from the market.

“I don’t want what happened to me to happen to other kids.”