‘Nothing beats the reward of fostering’

3:03pm Friday 23rd December 2005

Cradling baby Sophie, it is hard to resist her big blue eyes and infectious smile.

For the five-month-old, this will be her first Christmas. Having been given away by her mother at birth, she is blissfully unaware that she will be spending the festive season in care.

Despite this, Sophie (not her real name) is surrounded by a loving foster mother in a home festooned with Christmas decorations and there is a pile of presents waiting for her under the Christmas tree.

Forty-six years after fostering her first child, Jean Kentish, of Furzehill Road, Borehamwood, has just taken in her 101st baby.

Jean, who started fostering at the age of 23, looked after more than 200 children with her late husband, Jim. She won an MBE for her work in 1995, as well as a special recognition award from Hertfordshire County Council.

And at the age of 70, with five children and eight grandchildren of her own, she has no plans to give up just yet. "I just love what I do," said Jean, who has been labelled supermum'.

"It's been my life and I wouldn't have changed anything. It's the most rewarding job in the world."

Jean and Sophie will spend Christmas Day at Jean's daughter's house. Sophie has already received many cards, whichsit above the fireplace in Jean's home, alongside many pictures of smiling children.

One of those photographs is of a three-year-old boy, who was ill with cerebral palsy and died in Jean's arms.

"That is, of course, one of the saddest memories I have and something I will never fully get over," she said. "When you get into fostering, you have to be prepared for that."

"The children come to you for a host of reasons, be it if their mother has depression and just can't cope, if the family is abusive, or if they just aren't wanted from birth.

"You're not always going to get a newborn baby. You may get a child with real emotional problems and that can be very difficult especially when you have a family of your own."

Some of the children Jean fosters go back to their parents, but most go on to be adopted. She said: "When the children are adopted, that is a wonderful thing to see, both for the child and the parents.

"Of course, I'm always sad to see them go, but they stay in touch and it's amazing to know they have gone to a loving family.

"One girl who I fostered has just had a baby of her own, and I feel like it's my granddaughter. She's still a part of my life and whenever she calls, she always tells me she loves me at the end of the conversation. Nothing can beat that kind of reward."

Hertfordshire County Council's social services department are currently looking for people to foster children and babies. A spokesman said: "Christmas is a time for families and highlights the year-round need for more fosters carers to come forward and offer a child a home."

To find out more about fostering in Hertfordshire, call 0800 917 0925 or log on to the county council's web site at www.hertsdirect.org/adoptionandfostering