Paul and Michael Atwal-Brice were awarded The President’s Award at The Fostering Network’s annual Fostering Excellence Awards, on 18 November, for their outstanding contribution to foster care.
The fostering community in England would not be the same without Paul and Michael. The couple started opening their home to children in care over a decade ago and they have since transformed numerous lives, including adopting two sets of identical twins.
Paul, who is care experienced himself, and Michael are not only brilliant foster carers for Barnsley, they are also fantastic advocates for fostering and raise awareness of its transformational power at any given opportunity. The couple are particularly passionate to get more people from the LGBTQ+ community to come forward to foster.
Paul’s and Michael’s dedication and commitment to fostering is second to none, and over the years they have continuously helped us make foster care the very best it can be. We are delighted to be able to present Paul and Michael with the President’s Award for England this year, that is so well deserved
Kevin Williams, chief executive of The Fostering Network, said: ‘I’d like to congratulate Paul and Michael on winning their award.
«It is truly inspiring to see so many exceptional people achieving so much. It is a privilege to be able to celebrate and raise awareness of those achievements with our annual awards. I hope the awards are able to give people outside of the fostering community an appreciation of the vital role fostering playing in our society».
«All our winners, and everyone else involved in fostering in the UK, should be incredibly proud of their contributions to foster care. Every single day they are striving to improve the lives of children and young people in foster care».
Paul and Michael were presented with their President’s Award at this afternoon’s virtual ceremony, alongside other winners and members of the UK’s fostering community and guest speakers including author, Jacqueline Wilson, and ex-international footballer and now foster carer, Neville Southall.
