TWENTY-year-old Kirsty Woods heard about the initiative through social services.

She was put on the at children-at-risk register at a young age and when she was a teenager she started running away from her home up to four times a week over a period of two years.

When she left home she would often go to Liverpool and stay with friends or stay in Warrington.

She said: “I didn’t care about anything but I was all over the place.

“I would be here, there and everywhere if I didn’t come here. I have been telling everyone about the course.”

The former Sir Thomas Boteler High School pupil got her own flat at 16 and lives with her partner and two-year-old son.

She is pregnant with her second child and is due to give birth in September.

Kirsty said she wanted to take part in the scheme to find a job, meet people and gain life experiences.

She said the days have changed her life and helped her to open up and talk about things she has been through with her peers.

She said: “It gives young people new experiences.

“I would like to be a youth worker. I didn’t think I could do anything like that before.”

Workers at the Gateway-based charity are helping to point Kirsty in the right direction for her chosen career.

At the end of the month the expectant mum will also be going to Parliament to speak to MPs about what she thinks should be done for people who like herself have left care.

She said: “I was so shocked even when I found out I was going to Parliament.

“I will be fighting my argument about housing – we need more safe housing.”