'Fostering 40 children has given us huge family'

Sue and Pete Williams first volunteered as foster parents 46 years ago

A couple who have fostered 40 children over four decades have said they would not change a moment of their "very rewarding" time as parents.

Sue and Pete Williams, 72 and 81, from Hollingworth in Tameside brought up their first foster child 46 years ago after seeing an advert encouraging them to do so.

"We now have a very extended family, and the ones from years ago - they are still in our lives, they phone everyday," Sue Williams said.

Their story has been shared by Tameside Council as part of a push to encourage more people to become foster carers in the borough.

The long-serving foster parents were recently honoured by Tameside Council

The couple, who had a child of their own, are the borough's longest serving foster carers, having first volunteered their time decades ago.

"It started 46-years ago, we saw an advert and then we did the training", Mr Williams told BBC Radio Manchester.

"We went into a room, and they wouldn't do it now, but there were pictures on the wall of the children," Mrs Williams said.

"And you'd go round and say 'can I have information on this child and this child' and we got an older lad," she said.

'Open mind'

The couple said they faced difficulties, like having to overcome questions from those who felt kids in care were "no good", Mr Williams said.

"But a lot of them are in care because they've been abused or neglected," he added.

"There has been difficult times, but you work through them," said Mrs Williams.

She said hard work was key to establishing trust with the children, adding prospective foster parents had to "go into it with an open mind".

The couple said the children they had fostered over the years still checked in with them regularly.

"We have to spend a fortune on Easter eggs, because we've got more than 35 grandchildren from fostering that call us nana and grandad," Mr Williams said.