Mel Watson laughs happily with her partner, Josh, as she talks about the exciting changes happening in her life. About to become a mother for the first time, she is also packing for her first ever trip abroad where she has been invited to stay for a month as a guest of a South African church.

Like any girl facing these challenges, her excitement is tinged with nerves – but Mel feels she has more reason than most to accept the wonderful opportunities her life is suddenly putting before her.

Less than a year ago, Mel was in prison, and not for the first time. Her life had led her to a path of crime, and at the age of only 18 she knew that when she came out of prison she had no home to go to.

Mel lived in care from the age of 12 after running away from her grandparents house where she had been living since she was five years old.

Since then, she says she has lived in roughly 50 foster homes.

Today, Mel can understand the reasons behind her packing her bags and leaving. “I wouldn’t have admitted it last year but now I know I had problems.

“I would leave foster homes and parents as soon as I felt someone loved me and cared for me. I would push them away. I couldn’t really trust that many people.”

Last year Mel was sentenced to four months in prison for breaching a court order which she had ignored related to petty thefts from shops when she was younger.

She served two months in prison and came out to a hostel for the homeless in York where she was immediately thrown into a world of drinking and fighting. Within a week she was back in prison.

“I can’t remember what I felt during that week because I was so drunk. I was mixing with the other people. It was all drinking, fighting, I was remanded over the weekend for assault and theft. I had concussion in police cells for three days.

“My life was messed up, I had nowhere to go when I came out, I had been kicked out of two hostels in York already, it was horrible, I knew I needed to sort my life out.”

One of her foster mothers, Linda Barrie, from Naburn, had managed to keep in touch with Mel. Although Mel had not stay with her for long, she had always kept an eye out for her.

She was there when Mel was in court. She visited her in prison, bringing her clothes and chocolate, and she wrote to her.

She and her family took Mel in, found her a room of her own, and took her with them to The Church of Christ the Light in Huntington, and to weekly meetings called Stepping Out.

It was a talk at one of those meetings by committed Christian Gram Seed, a homeless, violent alcoholic, who spent his life in and out of prison, that made her stand up and decide to turn her life around.

“Not having had any love from my mother I related to Gram, someone wanting and needing.

“Everything he said I could relate to. I was headed the same way. He asked if anyone wanted to give their life to God, ask forgiveness, and repent their sins, so I did.”

One day, after stealing a bike and riding it home she found she was eaten up with a guilty conscience and went to the police to confess.

“I feel God knew that I could take and steal and not care – it was a gift he gave me. He opens new doors and closes old doors. That door is closed to me now. I wouldn’t have the guts to do it now. My days of stealing are over.”

She met her partner Josh Webster, a dispatcher for Naburn company Choc Affair, on their way to church.

Josh’s own father had killed himself. He said: “We’ve been together for so little time, but have been through so much, we understand each other’s ways. We’re best friends as well.

“If you find someone you love, you pray for your life to be happy and caring with each other.

“We have to get that love we receive from God as well, and the Church and the families and support that are put around us.

“We’ve both been through drink and drugs and violence, we've been there, done it all. We just want to settle down and have a quiet life."

That will have to come later for Mel. The story of her life touched visiting members of a South African church who met her in Huntington.

They went home to their own church in Johannesburg and the congregation have raised the money for her to fly out this June where she will stay for a month.

She is to be taken around the country and will visit Zimbabwe.

“I will be seeing how people live out there, and to visit people less fortunate than I am, to make me value my life more and to increase my faith.”

Mel was invited before she knew she was pregnant and she is already looking forward to being home again to be with Josh and with her baby, which is due in October.

“The whole mother business... I just can’t wait. I am absolutely speechless about it, because this is all I ever dreamt of. It’s not all about me anymore." she says.

“A big part of it all for me was meeting Josh. He stood by me. He noticed when I was pushing him away, and talked about it.

“Love changes everything. When I came out of prison there were a lot of people around to support me.

“If it wasn't for Linda and the Church I don’t know where I'd be. I just want to thank them all.”


Stability for youngsters in care ‘a matter of luck’

A report from a year long Inquiry into children in care last month called for urgent reform, stressing the importance of relationships for children which it said are often being broken by the care system, with children often having too many moves between homes.

Robert Tapsell, chair of the Care Inquiry Steering Group, said the inquiry found important relationships with family members, previous foster carers, social workers, friends or teachers were often broken and whether children ended up with a permanent, stable place to live appeared to be a matter of luck.

Mel was put in touch with The Press through The Springboard Project, set up by the charity Foundation.

In partnership with other organisations, it offers mentoring support to all young people aged between 16 and 24 who have lived in care and who now live in York, Selby or Ryedale.

For further information, log on to: foundationuk.org/SpringboardProject, email SpringboardProject@foundationuk.org or phone 07891 854493.

For more information on becoming a foster parent and the Fostering Network, log on to fostering.net, the National Fostering Agency on nfa.co.uk, or contact your local authority.