DEBBIE INSPIRED ME TO GO TO UNI
SCOTT O’BRIEN, 20, is a mechanical engineering student at London South Bank University. Aged five, he spent six months in Debbie’s care until he was adopted.
I was put into care aged two because my parents were unable to handle me and my seven siblings.
For the next three years I was moved around four or five different foster homes until I was taken in by Debbie and David.
It was there that my life changed. On my second day there David took me into work and he gave me my own mini toolbelt.
As I had been in a pushchair a lot in my early years I hadn’t learned to walk properly and it was Debbie who took the time to teach me.
I’d always been on edge and for the first time in my life I was able to relax.
In the six months I was there I grew in confi dence and began to care about myself.
I was always the troublemaker at school but Debbie and David believed in me and I learned to love learning.
There is no doubt in my mind that I wouldn’t have gone to university without the positive role models I was surrounded by in their home.
Find out more about Barnardo’s Change A Life campaign and how you can change a child’s life for the better by visiting barnardos.org.uk/changealife or calling 0800 0277 280