After the initial first few days, SS felt at ease and supported by the staff. She opened up to YAA workers about how hard and exhausting her home life is and how she has learnt to manage everything by herself without asking for any support.

The holiday programme gave SS the space to be a child again, have fun and explore new things. Following her engagement with us, she has grown more confident in asking for support in school or when she needs it. She seems happier and is excited to get involved in other projects we have to offer. Her Social worker is thrilled we have given her this opportunity to be more than a carer and spend some time being a typical 14 year old with her peers.

“Thank you so much YAA, I have had the most fun! Thank you for looking after me, feeding me and letting me bring my friend on the trip. I really needed this and am very grateful.”

We were particularly impressed that a Traveller young person, specifically a young girl, has been able to academically achieve to this level and is considering KS5 and a course of employment.

Our team supported TM in applying for various summer job placements in the shopping centre nearby in considering her circumstances and ensuring that she would still be able to support at home. We also referred her to the RBKC NEET Lead to receive further support from September. Through these touch points, we have been able to secure her place in KS5 and support her in working towards her academic and career goals.

“I really was so bored at home, but my mum needs me to look after the little ones. Traveller girls do not usually go to college and I know this is not fair on my brothers and sisters, but YAA has really helped and my mum is allowing me to study further. I can also make some money to support my family.”

Around the time his mum died, he started attending YAA. He grew very close to staff, who he now considers family. The one to one mentoring sessions helped him to come to terms with his bereavement and to channel his emotions in a better way.

After he was sent to Alternative Provision for being involved in a fight in school, his mentor helped him get back into a mainstream school to continue his education through further mentoring and one to one sessions. He is now undertaking his A-levels, continues working part-time, and hopes to go to university.

CC attributes the consistency of the support provided by us to help him focus on studying and stay away from involvement in criminal activities.

“Around that time, I probably would have been involved in really dangerous stuff like gangs and crime. YAA really pushed me away from that.”

GR had severe trauma and PTSD from his stabbings. He also had mental health issues that he did not address. His lack of confidence was something he faced on a daily basis. This is something that impacted his engagement on the project, as he did not have the self-belief or the drive to develop his business.

Over the course of the programme, his behaviour and attitude changed. GR was willing to put effort into starting his business. He started to think of ideas of how to source money to fund his business and grow it to a point where it could sustain him so he would not be relying on benefits. He had also been talking with his brother to do this together, so it would refocus his brother from doing negative things and start to get on to a better path. As a result, this opened up new communication with his brother, which has really improved their relationship.

We arranged for a professional business owner to have one-to-one mentoring sessions which elevated his engagement and passion for his business idea. He is still working on this but every day is motivated to make it a success and deters him from criminal activities.

‘My communication skills have improved. I have improved my confidence skills and feel like I can talk to my peers and adults more. I have more belief in myself. Being on the market selling, it makes me want to get my business out there.’

Julia attended the first ever YAA Girls Group session two years ago and has been a regular attendee who actively participates.

Her attitude in the beginning could be offish at times and she found it hard to engage with girls who were outside of her friendship group. She could sometimes appear disinterested in the sessions and reluctant to open up but after working with her week in week out over a long period of time we were able to spot and understand these patterns of behaviour and by building a good working relationship with her we were able to establish that she can sometimes feel stressed and isolated. She then suggested and helped us to incorporate these elements into our work by running sessions on positive mental health and well-being which she responded well to.

By being a constant feature in Julia’s life, The YAA Girls Group has been able to provide her, and the other girls who attend, a safe space to talk and build new positive relationships with people outside of the usual friendship groups. It is clear that Julia is actively going through many life experiences at once and our sessional topics have allowed her to ask questions, figure out the best way to deal with situations and arm herself going forward as she continues to face many of life’s challenges. This has helped to shape her communication skills and build her confidence which is evident by the way she liaises and supports new members to group – almost taking them under her wing and helping to keep the room positive and engaged.

We have witnessed the progression and her maturity levels rise when she became an established member of the group. She is often to first one to arrive and encourages others to attend. She is very passionate about attending another residential and has said in the past that she thoroughly appreciated the break from being a young carer and also escaping the shadow of Grenfell Tower that has impacted her life so dramatically.

While we still have some work to do regarding her attitude and behaviour in school she has come on leaps and bounds within the group and we will continue to put challenges in front of her while still providing support.

Following on from his progression from YAA KICKS, Hasan completed a BTEC in Sport and Exercise Science while completing his FA Level 1 in Coaching Football. This furthered his interest in football coaching where he started to volunteer on the Kicks programme delivering a mixture of football sessions as well as mentoring some of the younger participants on the programme.

Through the practical experience of volunteering and achieving the qualifications, he has gained confidence and knowledge when delivering sessions to different age groups and abilities. Hasan has now been offered a role at Chelsea FC Foundation as a sessional coach. He will be delivering on Kicks and Football Development programmes assisting and learning from other coaches within the Foundation. Moving forward Hasan is hoping to continue his football coaching career by continuing to gain experience through delivering at the Foundation as well as completing his FA Level 2 in Coaching Football. Alongside this, Hasan is planning an application for University; he has completed his BTEC with Chelsea Foundation and is hoping to go to University to study Sports Science and Coaching. In the future, he would like to become a full time Football Coach based within an academy set up.