MOTHER of five Lorraine Boswell says she and her husband Ian have been given a new lease of life by fostering.

The couple, who live in Whitefield, explained how their children are now adults and have “flown the nest”, giving them the perfect opportunity to help children needing foster care.

Lorraine, aged 51, said: “I have always wanted to foster, even when the children were younger.

“I knew that when they grew up there would be a good chance of doing it but you do need a lot of support along the way and our experience is that you definitely get that help in Bury.

“We’ve been lucky enough to be able to give our own children the best start in life and we wanted to be able to help other children have that too.”

Lorraine works as an HR assistant at a distribution company in Heywood while Ian, aged 53, works with the police.

Bury Council has been flexible in that they can arrange foster placements that work alongside their job commitments.

“They have been very supportive. The training we did was very useful. It probably took longer than it would do for others, but that is because of our commitments. That flexibility really helped,” said Lorraine.

The couple, who signed up to become foster carers last year, have so far had one long-term placement caring for a young man with autism and cerebral palsy.

“It was really enjoyable getting to know him and being able to help him. We both got a lot out of it and even our own children said how much they liked having him around,” said Lorraine.

She added: “Obviously, there are issues related to safeguarding and boundaries, but there is a support network in place to make sure you’re prepared.

“Fostering is the best thing I’ve ever done. It is the most rewarding thing you will do. I’d like to give up work and do it full time.

“To those considering fostering, I would definitely recommend just logging on to the You Can Foster website and finding out more.

“If all of your questions are answered, you can give it real thought. It worked for us.”