There have been hundreds of birthdays celebrated in the home of Hazel and Tony Welsh, parents dozens of times over.

The couple, who live in Allington, near Maidstone, have a son, a daughter, an adopted child ... and hundreds more children who have been fostered over the past 45 years.

Some stayed overnight – emergency charges who came as “little bundles” in the night – others stayed for years. One came at nine months and left at 18.

It was an advertisement in the Kent Messenger in 1963, seeking summer holiday fostering for a boarding school child, which first attracted them.

Now they have received a Kent County Council long service award.

Mrs Welsh said: “They are all individuals; every child is different. That is what is interesting."

See the Kent Messenger for the full story