A Miss Hertfordshire 2018 contender wants to use her own experiences to raise the profile of fostering care.

Jasmine Orr, 24, is a supporter of Fostering Care Fortnight, an annual campaign run by the Fostering Network to increase awareness of the practice.

She was a foster child herself for 13 years due to her biological mother being unable to care for her for mental health reasons. 

Miss Orr said: “I was going through a mixture of emotions feeling fear, uncertainty, hate, disappointment, loneliness, resentment, feeling unloved and unwanted until I met my foster carer who I now call mum.”

“They made me feel my life was worth living because I had a family that loved me like I was their own.

“Now, unfortunately for them, they can’t get rid of me!”

She got a place at Loreto Girls Catholic School in St Albans, one of the top state-funded schools in England, which was recently acknowledged for its work with disadvantaged pupils.

Having studied an NVQ in Business Administration at sixth form, Mrs Orr has worked as a recruitment consultant for almost four years with Cityscape Recruitment, which specialises in recruiting construction professionals.

She stresses that she “loves her job”, adding: “It combines my passion of helping others with finding people new careers and in turn help them better themselves.

“I genuinely enjoy giving my candidates the opportunities to enhance their lives.”

Miss Orr, who previously entered Miss Hertfordshire in 2014 and 2015, attributes her success to her foster family.

She said: “I was extremely fortunate to have been brought up in a loving foster home where all of this was made possible.

“I would not be the successful person I am today without my family.

“They helped make my life as normal as possible and with everything going on in the background, normality was what I needed.

"I would definitely advise anyone to get involved with fostering and give people the chance at life that I have been given."

As a Miss Hertfordshire finalist, Miss Orr - sponsored by Brides-2-B - is fundraising for Beauty With A Purpose, and is hoping to raise £2,000.