‘We’re very glad we’ve done it’: the Liverpool couple who fostered more than 40 children
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Charles and Dianne Hubbert retired after receiving an MBE for services to foster care. Over 23 years, Charles and Dianne Hubbert have fostered more than 40 children in their home in Croxteth, Liverpool. They have just retired, after being awarded an MBE for their services to foster care.
![[Rachel Hall]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/11/17/Rachel_Hall_Next_Gen.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The pair became interested in social care after working as adult support workers for people with special needs and learning difficulties, and seeing their neighbour fostering children. “I saw an advert for Barnardo’s looking for short-term breaks. Me and Charlie had a chat about it, and we chatted to the kids and I said: ‘I think this is something we could do’,” Dianne, 60, recalled.
“I just wanted to help families out by giving them a break. We put the kids in bunk beds and they had the little box bedroom. We knew from working with adults that families are crying out for this, that there’s a shortage of respite care.”. The pair went to meetings and peer support groups organised by Barnardo’s, where they could meet other foster carers and families considering the process – a favour they later returned once they had experience. “You just learn bit by bit from other people,” said Charles, 75.
They also undertook a course about what to expect that was delivered by a social worker once a fortnight for over a year. “It’s a huge commitment,” said Dianne. Their daughter, 11 at the time, embraced the opportunity to meet new children, though their son, six, was initially more circumspect. “Our kids sort of grew up with them,” Dianne said.
