A NORTH PEMBROKESHIRE woman who survived a childhood of abuse and neglect has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee honours. The award comes in recognition of her work to help others in similar situations.
Emma Lewis, 42, who now lives in Swansea, is the chair and founding member of the Roots Foundation Wales, a charity that supports young people in care, care leavers, and carers.
Emma grew up in Pembrokeshire and formally entered the care system at the age of 10. Before this she survived neglect, physical and sexual abuse.
Her mum, Betty, was addicted to alcohol and Emma recalls begging for food as a child.
Despite this Emma was desperate to leave her foster placements and return home.
She told The Pembrokeshire Herald: “I wanted to be at home living with my mum. I wanted my mum to be sober.
“When I left the care system, I struggled to find her way in the world, and ended up living on my own in a damp riddled flat.
“However, there was a wider community in north Pembrokeshire that offered# support.
“There were people in Fishguard and Letterston that took care of me, that took me under their wing and gave me opportunities that I never thought would be possible.”
Among those was the woman in the local pub who gave her a job, another woman who offered her a decent place to rent, the person who invited her for Sunday lunch so that she wouldn’t be alone, and a local forum theatre company that helped her find confidence in her voice.
For Emma a turning point came more than two decades ago when she met her husband Craig and moved to Swansea, the pair have a grown-up son.
While working as a community development worker in a disadvantaged area of Swansea, Emma kept coming across young people in care who were falling through gaps in provision.
Determined to help these young people, she set up the Roots Foundation Wales to provide support for young carers, those in care and those leaving the system.
