Hughie and his wife Audrey have been fostering for almost 20 years. Their birth children had left home and they were left with a big empty house so they decided to start fostering. Hughie and Audrey now care for teenagers on a long-term basis in Wakefield.
Hughie says: "We are older now and like the fact that most teenagers have skills that enable them to do things for themselves. There are so many emotional rewards to fostering: it’s often tiny things that represent such big steps forward for our children and make it all worthwhile.
"For example, we fostered 13 year-old twin girls. Their dad had died and their mum had learning difficulties. They had become a bit wild and not been to school, and were very reluctant to surrender any of their independence. We worked hard with them and between them they obtained 21 GCSEs and both went on to college."
