Fundraiser set up to help foster mum from Luton - after her car was stolen and house left in need of urgent repairs

Some call her an angel, others a hero. Many say she’s been their saviour and changed their lives forever.

But now foster mum-in-a-million Joyce Ellis, 66, of Round Green needs help herself.

Her kitchen has been ‘trashed’, a leak in the main bathroom led to the floor collapsing, the wiring needs attention and the boiler has been replaced three times in as many years. Then – to add insult to injury - her car was stolen.

Now her daughter Angie Bensley, 38, has set up a gofundme page to help with all the repairs and hopefully replace the car.

She says: “Over the years, Mum has fostered about 30 children and young people. She’s never turned her back on someone in need. She’s always been ready to open her door to anybody who needs a shoulder to cry on or perhaps even a bed for the night.

"Our family is a mishmash of all types of people – and blood has very little to do with it. We’ve had children with Tourettes, autism, ADHD and a variety of other conditions.”

Angie herself is disabled and has an eight-year-old daughter.

She says: “Mum is my lifeline, the second parent to my daughter. She helps me every day with the school run and takes her to appointments and extra curricular activities. She even pre-prepares meals to ensure my child has healthy decent meals when I’m in too much pain to cook.”

"For over a decade she was a therapeutic foster carer, caring for teenagers with emotional and behavioural difficulties. She would do her best to help them navigate their feelings and get them on the right track.

"Her home was invaded and completely trashed on more than one occasion. She’s had her possessions stolen, her property damaged and her life turned upside down.

"But she continued until her home was invaded again. She went back to normal foster care after that because there was no support and she felt undervalued as a therapeutic foster carer.”

Joyce was one of 10 children and her mother died when she was three. She was mainly raised by her siblings, then her stepmother, and Angie believes this is what gave her the passion and drive to give a good life to as many young people as possible.

Joyce married a man with three children, then had Angie who says: “Mum knew she wanted more so she and my Dad came to the decision to begin fostering teenagers.”

Now, more than three decades later, this amazing woman is still fostering – even though she and her husband split up.

Angie admits: “I’ve lost count of the number of young children whose lives she has changed. Some are still part of our family, with children of their own who call her Nanny – just like my own daughter.

"Others have moved forward for their own reasons but she’s never prevented them or resented them. She’s only ever wanted the best for everyone.”

Joyce gets by on her pension and a small allowance from fostering.

Now Angie is determined to turn the tables and give her mum – ‘the centre of our large family circle” – some financial stability and peace of mind. Visit the GoFundMe if you can help.