'I left a children's home – and was embraced by love'

"I had no-one else, so to feel part of a family after leaving care is making a huge difference."

Poppie was 10 when she was placed in care after a breakdown in her relationship with her mother.

She started living with a foster family, but within two years moved into a children's home in Hertfordshire where she stayed until just before her 18th birthday.

She has no contact with her birth family - but Poppie wasn't alone as she took her first steps into adulthood last year.

Brigitte Marshall, 58, and her son, Reuben, 24, who were support workers at her care home, are now there for her.

Reuben was her key worker and played a crucial role in supporting her to sit her GCSEs. Now, they accompany her to medical appointments and have helped her chose a college course. In September she will begin a health and care course and has ambitions to become a doctor.

"It means so much having Brigitte and her family in my life," says Poppie, 18, who attends family BBQs, social events and trips out with them.

She is so close to the family that she refers to Brigitte as "mummy Brigitte".