Amanda Booth is an inspirational parent and foster carer.

With seven children – five of her own and two step children – and four grandchildren, the 56-year-old has been a foster carer for the past 16 years, looking after dozens of children and young people in need.

She offers a wide range of fostering services with short-term and long-term placements, respite and shared care as well as emergency provision, and she has even adopted one of the children in her care, who is now a teenager.

It’s the teenage years that Amanda specialises in as she “relates to them and just seems to connect” with young adults.

Amanda said: “My own children have never been any trouble and I believe I’ve raised them properly and successfully.

“I knew I wanted to give something back and continue to look after children and young people.”

Amanda, whose working life has been spent running post offices and newsagents, decided to become a foster carer after seeing an advert for Bolton Council’s fostering team.

She always manages to form a close bond with the youngsters in her care and they quickly become part of the family.

The household is a diverse one with different religions mixing perfectly as well as teenagers from a number of different countries.

Amanda said: “I already had a big family so the children I’ve fostered have always become part of that unit and we simply made a bigger family.

“Everyone enjoys all the celebrations and festivals and we always try and respect each individual’s traditions, like they would do if they were at home.

“We all marked Eidh in July and put a Christmas tree up in December – the key thing is to respect every member of the family."

Could you help make a difference and foster a young person?

Bolton Council would love to hear from you and will support you on your fostering journey.

Make that first step by requesting an information pack by emailing fostering@bolton.gov.uk, visiting www.bolton.gov.uk/fostering or ringing 0800 107 1564.

Could you help make a difference and foster a young person?

Are your teenagers preparing to leave home for college or university?

Have they secured a job and a place to live that will leave your home feeling quiet and empty?

Empty nest syndrome occurs when children have grown up and leave home to begin their own independent lives, which can be a time of mixed emotions for the parents they say goodbye to.

Parents feel proud that they have successfully raised their children into young adults but miss the close connection they've shared as they've been growing up.

The noise, hustle and bustle of having children and their friends in their homes, the daily updates on their lives and worrying when they are out late are no longer present and houses can feel empty.

Could you foster and make an amazing contribution to the lives of a child or young person?

Could you make a huge difference to the life of child in need, who may not have had the best start in life?

Foster carers have a massive impact in helping a young person turn their life around, supporting them in creating opportunities to achieve and succeed in ways they might never have thought possible.

For more information about becoming a foster carer visit www.bolton.gov.uk/fostering, email fostering@bolton.gov.uk or call 0800 107 1564.