FELTHAM foster parents who have just been rewarded for 25 years service have spoken about how fostering has enriched their lives.
Lyn and Martin Davis were recently presented with an award for a quarter of a century as foster carers.
The couple, who have been together for 34 years, began fostering when their two sons were very young.
They have looked after children as young as six weeks all the way up to 17 years old, with placements ranging in length from a weekend up to to two years.
From the outside, Mr and Mrs Davis seem to have a typical family life, Mr Davis is a CCTV operator for a bus company and Mrs Davis is a stock controller for a supermarket. Their family includes their sons, a cat and an Irish Wolfhound called Murphy.
During their time as foster carers for the Hounslow Council, they have committed themselves to looking after children and young people, who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to live with their own family.
Martin believes that looking after children of all ages and from all backgrounds has enhanced not only their own lives, but also their sons' lives.
He said: "One of the biggest benefits of fostering for us was that our sons grew up with a hugely diverse group of siblings. This has greatly enriched their lives as adults, and as a result I believe they have a much greater understanding of diversity of cultures and lifestyles.
"I also believe also it gives us and our kids grounding in life, and allows us to appreciate the relatively comfortable lives we have, having seen first-hand the physical and emotional traumas suffered by the young people we look after."
Both Lyn and Martin have worked for the same companies for the whole time they have been fostering, saying the support they receive from employers is crucial to allowing them to deal with the inevitable disruptions to daily life fostering brings.
As their sons grew up, the ages of the children Lyn and Martin cared for also increased, and eventually they ending up caring for teenagers.
Mr Davis said: "It came as a bit of a shock at first, and caring for older children who have undergone turmoil in their life brings many challenges and a totally different set of circumstances.
"But along with these challenges is the opportunity to make a real difference to the direction a young person’s life is travelling in, which is something really special indeed."
Mrs Davis said: "Our Irish Wolfhound Murphy is probably our greatest asset when dealing with new children in our care. Getting past the first few awkward moments when a placement starts is made a whole lot easier with him, as you simply can’t ignore 90 kilos of hairy dog demanding a good scratch behind his ears.
"People always ask us why we do it. Yes there are ups and downs and there are challenges, but in truth it has enriched our lives and we have met some fantastic children, many of whom have gone on to have their own families and still stay in touch with us, hopefully for the rest of their lives."
Anyone wanting to find out more about fostering can contact the council on 0800 731 8558.
