Jess now helps young runaways after years as a runaway herself

The 19 year-old from Derbyshire now advises other youngsters in her position to think twice before doing the same.

I first ran away from foster care when I was around 11. I would disappear from my foster home for a couple of hours late at night. I wasn't happy.

Then I went to live with my mum. But I still faced a lot of problems. I felt things hadn't changed. So I started to run away again.

Eventually, social services sent me to live with my biological dad, who I'd only ever really met once before. I stayed with him for about a year. But I still had a lot of problems in my head.

Street life

This guy abandoned me when I was four. He didn't have anything to do with me for years, then suddenly I'm thrown back into his life. I wasn't sure of how to cope with it, so one day I just never went back home.

I spent about four months going from friend to friend, staying with strangers, spending the night on the street, before I was put into a foster placement in Torquay.

To me, the social services and the police were the enemy. I couldn't trust them

I just stayed anywhere I could. I had a few contacts, but eventually I just wore them all out. You know, it's alright spending one night somewhere, but when it turns into a couple of days or a week, people get fed up, they don't want the problems.

In those four months I didn't have any contact with my parents or my foster carers.

Dangerous situation

To me, the social services and the police were the enemy. I couldn't trust them. Social services have high case loads, and they've only got limited time to spend with you each week to sort things out. They wanted instant answers and I felt rushed. I was treated like an attention-seeker.

At one point, I put myself in a very dangerous situation that I can't really go into. But at the time, I thought to myself, 'If I say I'm running away, I'm not going to come out of this alive'.

I thought, if I say I'm running away, I'm not going to come out of this alive

It made me realise that I had to sort myself out.

Then I got involved in a project run by the Children's Society and that's when things changed.

Charities like them have got more time to give help. With the Children's Society, they made time to listen to me. And they weren't lecturing me, telling me 'Don't do this'. They supported me to make decisions about my own life.

For example, if they had to make a phone call, they would do it in front of me, so I knew they weren't trying to cause trouble for me. That helped build my trust. And I felt they understood why I didn't want to go back home.

I now work for Derbyshire Runaways, which is affiliated to the children's charity, NCH. We work in local schools and do one-to-one sessions with young people.

I say to other young people, 'I did it and I've come out well, but most people don't'

I tell them about my experiences and I let them ask me questions. I'm not some middle-aged woman going in saying 'Don't do this because I've told you not to do it'.

I'm very honest with them. I'll say, 'I'm here to tell you about running away. I did it and I've come out well, but most people don't.'

We put the message out about how to stay safe. We make sure all young people know where to go if they're thinking of running away because they can't manage at home.

If they have run away, then we offer support. We try to mediate with the young person and the family to secure a placement back in the home.

Postcode lottery

It's a very new project and we've had a flood of referrals since we started last August.

At the moment access to services is a postcode lottery. A lot of local authorities don't have somewhere specifically for runaways to go for advice. So this new safety net sets minimum standards. It's about making sure that all agencies work together to get the best for young people.

I'm now settled in Derbyshire with my partner and my nine month baby boy

When I was running away, it took me a long time to find someone I could trust and that was safe. For a long time, I was just talking to anyone I met on the street and I was just telling them my story and asking for help.

I'm now settled in Derbyshire with my partner and my nine month old baby boy, Samuel.

I still get the urge to run away.