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Along the way, she was helped by a woman who she credits with giving her the opportunity to "see what a good life looked like".

She said: "When I was 14, I realised I needed to supplement my income.

She must have seen something in me, because she gave me an opportunity.

"What Mrs Smythe did is she gave me an opportunity to teach me what a good life looked like - what a good life looked like in a family environment.

Not only did I learn how to clean properly and look after residents and be able to cook and do all those domestic chores which I was paid for, but she showed me what great family life looked like.

"When I was 14," she said, "I made a life promise that I wouldn't have my own children because I saw so many disadvantaged children in the system - that I would only ever foster and adopt - and I kept that promise, even though I could have children."

Over the past 17 years, Sue, who now lives in Wirral, has fostered and adopted five children.

"I believe I have given opportunities to my children which they may not otherwise have got," she said, "and I hope until my last breath that I have given them every opportunity in life which they can have which allows them to move forward to be the best version of themselves, and that cycle of children having children who go into care is broken.

"The financial responsibility on the local authority of every child in care in huge, the loss to that child is huge, and then these children going though the system and ending up as care leavers just pushes them into the adult services which then is a further financial, emotional and social burden."

Sue has seen remarkable changes in her children over the years.

Around 38,000 children enter care each year.

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With the UK short of approximately 10,000 foster carers, Sue is calling on people to "give children a chance," adding: "I would say to anyone thinking of adopting or fostering that if you have room in your house and you have room in our heart, and you have an unwavering determination that this part of your life is going to be of service to others, then do it.

"There will be bumps in the road - there inevitably is with anything which presents challenges - but hold on, and you will get through it, and you will make a remarkable change to those children's lives."

For more information on fostering, visit Foster Care Matters or contact the Liverpool City Council Fostering Service.