Abandoned at birth, I was brought up in the care system. I worked as a shop assistant before joining the Warwickshire Police. From there I became a residential social worker, Inspector of care services and a Social care manager for local authorities in the West Midlands and Warwickshire. I am now retired and I live with my husband in Coventry.

My talk is based on my memoir "Call Me Auntie" (published by Waterside Press in 2020). It has five main themes:

• Abandonment. I was abandoned as a baby by my mother, who came from Barbados as part of the Windrush generation.
• Transracial fostering. I was fostered for nine years by a white family, until they emigrated to Australia.
• Life in a children's home. I was placed in a horrible children’s home up to the age of seventeen.
• Confusion. I experienced a lot of confusion about my identity.
• Mystery. The whereabouts of my mother and the identity of my father were surrounded in mystery.