Grantham: Award for 'incredible' octogenarian foster carers

Foster carers Robert Isdale, 81, and wife Margaret, 80, say they have no plans to retire

A couple in their 80s who have fostered more than 150 children say they have no plans to retire.

Margaret Isdale and her husband Robert, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, took in their first child in 1978.

They have been given a lifetime achievement award to mark their decades of dedication to families.

Asked how they continue to care for newborns, Mrs Isdale laughed: "I don't know! We just enjoy doing it, and I can't imagine not doing it now."

The couple, who have been married for 58 years and have two children of their own, are currently caring for an eight-month-old baby.

Mr Isdale, 81, said of their award: "It's really quite humbling. It's not about us, it's about the kids we look after - they're the important ones."

Margaret and Robert Isdale with their award

Paying tribute to them, Michelle Sawmynaden, from Lincolnshire Fostering Service, said she was "in awe of them both".

She added: "Their dedication to the fostering service over 46 years has been absolutely incredible.

"The difference they've made to the children's lives has been fantastic. Lots of those children have either gone back to their birth families or gone on to be adopted."

Explaining their decision to foster, Mr Isdale said: "You're there to give them an interim period of safety, to allow them to experience being part of a family."

The couple can still remember the first child they cared for - a 14-year-old girl.

She stayed with them for just a week before being returned to her birth parents, they recalled.

Over the years, they have looked after children with a range of needs, including a boy who underwent a kidney transplant. Mr and Mrs Isdale spent weeks in hospital by his bedside.

They said one child came to them with just a single set of pyjamas.

'Keep in touch'

The husband and wife team agreed the most rewarding part of fostering was reuniting families.

Mr Isdale said: "People say, how can you hand them over? Well, that's part of what we do, and sometimes when you hand [a child] over the adoptive parents or birth parents keep in touch and they say how appreciative they are. That in itself is a reward."

Recently, the couple were asked to be the godparents of a girl they had cared for.

In 1987, the Isdales adopted a girl after three years caring for her as foster parents.

"She just grew on us," said Mrs Isdale, 80.

Kim was born with Down's syndrome and a complex heart condition.

Robert and Margaret Isdale with their daughter Kim on the day she was adopted

When she was born doctors said she would not live beyond nine months. She died in 2005, aged 21. The family travelled all over the world with her.

Mr Isdale said: "She taught us a lot. She was lovely, she had a good sense of humour, and she went everywhere with us."

Both said they had no plans to retire from fostering, insisting they would continue caring for children as long as their health allowed them to.

According to Lincolnshire Fostering Service, there are 213 approved fostering households and 768 children in the county's care system.

Further details about becoming a foster carer can be found here.

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