Reward for couple who fostered 600

Bryan Bottomley, 81, and his 73-year-old wife Patricia, have provided a “loving and caring atmosphere” for children of all ages and nationalities and “helped steer them to better lives”, their citation said.

And they are still helping those in need, providing respite care for vulnerable children although they are now both pensioners.

Mrs Bottomley said: “We had six children within 18 months and when they went to school I was really lonely and the house was empty and a friend of mine suggested it.

“One of the babies she got, it didn’t go to plan, so it was offered to us and that’s how it started.

“We were approached by the Catholic Rescue Society and did that for two years and then Hull City Council asked us and within a week we had taken six children on.”

She added: “It’s fantastic. You do get the downs but you get a lot of fantastic times that you can remember – we would get children who think nothing of themselves and you see them go to university and graduating.”

However, looking back on her career, Mrs Bottomley said she thought fostering was much more difficult now than when she and her husband began in 1972.

“I think they were better days when we started,” she said. “The children were different, the families were different and social services were different.

“The children’s problems have changed. You don’t have the freedom we used to. They say ‘Bring them up as your own’ but you don’t have that freedom.”

The couple have kept in touch with many of their foster children and a number attended their golden wedding celebrations.

Also being honoured is a mother who was part of a pioneering group of Leeds parents that wanted to change the way disabled children were treated.

Joyce Fieldhouse, from Whitkirk, was one of the founding members of what is now Leeds Mencap. The 84-year-old’s contribution to the charity as a volunteer for nearly 60 years has been marked with a British Empire Medal for services to people with learning disabilities and their families.

Joyce, who still cares for her 60-year-old autistic son Andrew, said: “I was shocked, I thought ‘Who on Earth’s done this?’ Nobody’s said anything to me, I’ve never dreamed of anything like this.

“You see the honours list in the paper but you never think your name might be there as well – usually they are celebrities, mostly.”