After suffering so much, I just want to help kids

Why Lydia, 83, won't stop looking after our vulnerable children 'until I drop'

- RAMAZANI MWAMBA

LYDIA Ina's life work is looking after vulnerable children. The 83-year-old from Fallowfield has been dubbed 'Nigeria's Mother Theresa' thanks to her herculean achievement of being a foster carer for over 300 kids.

Lydia, or 'Auntie' Lydia as she is affectionately known, spent over two decades as a foster carer with Manchester City Council before founding her own orphanage in Africa. She became a foster carer when she stepped up to look after the children of a close friend and did such a good job that she was approached by Manchester City Council to be a signpost for children in need.

That was the start of her career, but during an interview with the MEN, Lydia revealed the heartbreaking personal reason for her burning passion for children in care. Originally from Nigeria, Lydia came to the UK over 50 years ago to live with her second husband and children. Having married her first husband at a young age, Lydia says that she spent a good number of years mourning the death of children that she had given birth to.