Ashling has only been part of Helen Williams' life for 15 months but the Stroud author already knows the two-year-old is part of the family.

Spurred on by a desire to help humanity, and ultimately, a love of children, Helen adopted Ashling when she was just 18 months old from the Jiangxi province of South China.

Ashling, whose Chinese name is Gao Rui-Nian, had been found abandoned and freezing on the streets of Nanchang City. Helen knew she couldn't go through life without offering a home to one of the millions of children worldwide who do not have a family to call their own.

She said: "I thought to myself, there is a child out there who needs my help.
"I look at her now when she's tucked up in bed, cuddling her teddy bear, looking contented, and I try not to think what could have happened to her if I hadn't taken her in."

Around 30 children in Gloucestershire are currently waiting to be allocated adopted families, and social services bosses say we are performing badly in comparison with other, nearby counties. Nationally there are more than 5,000 children waiting for new families.

A spokeswoman for Gloucestershire Social Services said: "We are currently negotiating with the Government about ways to improve our adoption performance by recruiting more adoptive parents.
"We hope to look at new approaches in the coming months."

She added that the county was not performing as well as other counties in the country. In the meantime, social services is calling for anyone who thinks they can offer a home to a child to get in contact urgently.

Helen, 54, who already has four children of her own, wants to encourage anyone who thinks they might be a suitable adoptive parent to pick up the phone.

She said: "It has been a difficult time, and it is definitely harder to bond with a child which is not your own, but it is incredibly rewarding.
"Ashling is a very wilful and clever child, and I am often exhausted after a day of looking after her.
"But the other day, I bumped into a friend who asked whether I was happy - I immediately said I was so pleased I had Ashling in my life.
"At the end of every day, I am so glad that I have done this, regardless of how tired I am.
"I just think of where she would be if I hadn't done this. Would she be in an institution?"

In Gloucestershire, there are very few children as young as Ashling available for adoption, and many of the youngsters are over the age of five. Some need to be placed with a brother or a sister, and are seen as harder to place than a young baby.

But Helen disagrees, and says although adopting an older child can mean they are not brought up by you from the day they were born, it can prove a lot easier.

She said: "When children are older they tend to be more independent. And if they are with a brother or a sister then they will already have a playmate.
"But at the end of the day, adopting a child will be helping change their lives for the better, regardless of their age, race or sex."

According to the British Adoption And Fostering charity (BAAF), adopting a child can be a hugely rewarding and life-changing experience.

A spokesman said: "Adoption is unique. It is about making a real difference to a child's life.
"When you adopt, you provide a secure, loving home to a child - for life.
"Like all parenting, it means sticking with it through good times and bad. It is one of the most challenging, but also one of the most rewarding things you can do."

A spokeswoman for the county's social services said: "We are not looking for huge numbers of adoptive parents, but we are looking for people who are willing to take older children and groups of two or three brothers and sisters.

"We need to be able to match the needs of the children with the people willing to adopt them to ensure an adoption is successful in providing the children with a stable and loving home."