AN adoptive mum is encouraging people to support a new ‘super team’ to help children find families after ‘following her dream.’

Mandy Worsley, from Chapeltown, Turton, adopted children James and Jessica with husband Steven and now wants others to do the same with the launch of new agency Adoption Now.

The regional group was launched on Monday and brings together Blackburn with Darwen Council with five other authorities to share practices, resources and expertise.

Mrs Worsely adopted her two children, with the help of Blackburn with Darwen Council, who said there are 19 children in the area currently needing adoption.

In Easter this year, she also opened up her ‘dream come true’ holiday home escape for adoptive families next to her house and has welcomed five families so far.

She said it is important people continue to adopt to help children find their ‘forever families’.

The 45-year-old said: “It was the best decision we’ve ever made.

“I’d advise people who are nervous about taking that first steps to go for it. There are lots of children who need a loving home.

“I think people can be a bit frightened by the thought of it at first and how the whole process works.

“But it is easier than we thought, the social workers were approachable and we felt comfortable with them.

“It’s fulfilled our lives and the lives of our children.

“There’s a lot of help and support out there for people now.

“We’ve opened a retreat for people to come to in the introductory stages of the process, and it is just a dream come true.”

She adopted her son James, now 13, when he was nine months old, and daughter Jessica, now 11, when she was 11 months old.

Adoption Now also brought together Bolton, Tameside, Oldham, Bury and Rochdale Councils, who combined with Blackburn have 100 children looking for families.

The new adoption group said for the first time in recent years there are more children waiting for adoption than registered adopters waiting to be matched with children.

Karen Barrick, head of service at Adoption Now, said: “We want to do everything possible to improve life chances for these vulnerable children and the one of the best ways we can achieve this is matching them with the most suitable adopters as quickly as we can.

“It makes sense for us to pool our resources to achieve this and I’m excited about the difference we can make with our new regional super team and the positive outcomes we will be able to achieve for our children.”