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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Elizabeth Bennett

A new start after 60: I became a foster carer at 75 – and it has helped keep me young

Patricia Swan at home in her garden.
‘I needed something to stimulate my life and fostering has given me that’ … Patricia Swan at home in her garden. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

Patricia Swan was pottering around at home one day in 2022 when a radio broadcast changed the course of her life. “Normally, the radio is background noise, but when I heard a desperate callout for more foster carers in my local area, I had to do something,” she says. She was 75 at the time, so her next thought was: “I must be too old.” However, she looked into it immediately and, on finding there was no upper age limit, she and her husband put in an application.

Six months later, they were caring for a 17-month-old boy and his six-month-old sister.

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