PATIENCE and being a good listener are the key to being a successful foster carer, according to a couple who have looked after 54 children over the past 30 years.

John, 65 and Joan Owen, 64, began their fostering ‘career’ 35 years ago, when they took some children to Filey during the summer holidays.

Mr Owen was initially reluctant to get into fostering despite his wife wanting to foster for years.

“He felt he would get too involved and thought he would be too upset to see them go,” said Mrs Owen. “Someone he’d known for quite a few years had a son who he originally fostered and then adopted. He came back one night and said to me: ‘Go on then, let’s give it a go’.”

“The first two children we had in 1980 were brother and sister — Shelley and Paul. They were supposed to stay with us for the summer holidays but ended up staying with us for 18 years.”

Fifteen years ago Mrs Owen was confined to a wheelchair because of her muscular dystrophy. The Owens, who had three children of their own before they started fostering — Beverley, Lindsay and Stephen — remain in close contact with around 12 of the children they have fostered.

They usually throw a party on Boxing Day — where around 40 of the children turned up last year — but this year only five are returning.

Lizie Holden, 30, is one of the people who remains in regular contact with ‘Auntie Joan and Uncle John’.

Her parents were going through a divorce when she was taken into care, and she enjoyed living in Shap.

“John and Joan were the first foster carers I was put with and I couldn’t have asked for two better people,” said Ms Holden, who works in the petrol station at the Rheged Centre.

“They were really loving, caring and down to earth people and I love them so much. John and Joan were able to give me a better upbringing than I may have had.”

Mr Owen, a former Detective Inspector at Cumbria Police in Kendal for 32 years and former president of the Rugby Football Union, said: “It’s a wonderful opportunity to change peoples’ lives and see them achieve the goals they want to. We’ve throughly enjoyed it. The good times certainly outweigh the bad times by a long way and it’s a gratifying thought to think we have made a difference to someone’s life.

“There are some great children out there and they just need the right opportunity and some tender loving care.”

If you would like to know more about fostering, contact CCC on 0303 3331216, 01228 221408 or 01228 221409.