I tried to track down all the friends I grew up with in care – here’s what I found

Fifteen years after leaving the care system, almost everyone I knew then was reluctant to talk. Why had so many of them struggled or fallen off the map?

When Lucy and I meet in the food court at the Arndale Centre in Manchester, it is the first time I have seen her for 15 years. But we were close growing up. We both lived in a children’s home in Chadderton, near Oldham, where I described her to everyone as my sister. The last time I saw her, she was being taken to a different care unit after giving birth to her first child at the age of 14. I later learned that she was made to give up the baby for adoption.

Now 29, Lucy has had four more children, who still live with her. When we meet, she is accompanied by her four-year-old son. Despite mental health problems, including bipolar disorder, she is coping well and is a good parent: all her children are in full-time education and well looked after. “I want to make sure that my kids have a better life than we had,” she says.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2s3uhCa