Beneficiary stories
These stories show how rewarding it is to work with young people and how every unique beneficiary gives our journey meaning. Read below for insight into our two-way beneficiary relationship.
Stories from Achieve
The project is something I have spent a long while trying to find. I have wanted my son involved in social situations, whilst being able to learn new things and experience a normal friendship lifestyle.
He has only been on the project for a short period of time, but things are already improving at home and his confidence is growing.
I came and visited him on project before picking him up and I couldn't believe how much he was welcoming strangers which he hasn't been able to do before.
Charlie has been coming to the Achieve project for a while and has never taken part in any of the activities during the holidays. He always made up he was going on holiday.
This summer we were surprised when he signed up for many of the trips we organised. When I asked him "what had made the difference' he said, he didn't want to stay home anymore and felt more confident with more friends. He said "I enjoyed all the summer activities and I want to do them again".
Charlie really enjoyed the picnic and playing with the dogs (the staff pets), he also enjoyed going on rides at Brighton Pier and dancing to music.
Charlie is excited about going to London in the next half term and would like to see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Our son has been coming to the Achieve Project for 3 years now and it has been instrumental in maintaining consistency throughout the school to college transition period.
He has made many good friends and has become much more independent as a result of the activities and support from the project.
We would highly recommend the project to other parents and young people.
Stories from Aspire
My son likes seeing his mentor and loves sessions. He seems more mature and has grown up a bit. This Christmas break I was worried, but it was really nice.
He's been doing well with his anger and there haven't been any outburst like before. His behaviour has really improved, and I hope it stays like this!
Things have improved at home and he gets on much better with his siblings. Thank you for the support.
Just about to turn 17, this young man had been in the care system since he was 12. Various different foster families, and was now in a residential children’s home. He had major anger issues, fears of abandonment, and was heavily using Cannabis, Pills & other Class A substances on a daily basis to cope with his emotions.
He had just begun a relationship with a lovely young lady who was his inspiration & motivation to turn his life around, but didn’t know how or where to start.
After 5 months working 1-2-1 on a weekly basis with an Aspire Mentor, he has made fantastic progress. He hasn’t taken any pills or other Class A drugs for over 3 months and has cut his cannabis use down to pretty much nothing.
He has moved into a semi-independent accommodation and is learning to budget his money for food, instead of drugs, as well as other independent living skills and travels 3 hrs a day by bike & train to attend college in a different town.
He is booked in to begin his driving lessons soon and on top of all that he is building a beautiful relationship with his girlfriend and has amazing support from her family, which he fully appreciates.
Quote “I can’t thank you enough for what you have done for me. If you hadn't walked into the Children’s home that day and talked to me, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I would still be taking drugs, I wouldn’t be in college, and I would have lost my girlfriend”
This 21 yr old female was referred to us from the Anti-Social Behaviour team within the police. Suffering with BPD as well as other mental health issues, she was regularly getting heavily drunk, self-harming, threatening suicide and making frequent calls to emergency services.
Her behaviour landed her in court many times whilst drunk, including abuse to emergency services when they tried to help her. When I met with her, she had no hope for a future at all. She truly wanted to die.
5 months later there has been huge progress, she has moved into a homeless shelter, is taking much better care of herself, looks well and healthy and has reduced her drinking to almost nothing.
Although she is still struggling with what she wants to do with her life, she is so much happier and is now hopeful for her future. She has been trying out days at college to see what she would like to do, and her Criminal Behaviour Order has been dropped due to her improved behaviour.
Quote: When I met you I really didn’t want to be alive, but today I do, I actually feel happy and more confident and I have hopes & dreams”
Stories from Attain
On the 21st of December, I was offered to be part of a charity called Transitions UK. I remember being very tired and withdrawn when I met Vanessa, I was sceptical and confused of what the charity was about and how exactly it’d work out. I was frightened to meet a stranger and even more scared of how I could possibly allow an individual to get to know me, as I hate talking about my life, the past of even sharing my goals in case I don’t achieve.
Now I’ve been part of Transitions UK for 5 months with my mentor Kay, who has not only inspired me but got me to believe in myself, motivate me and most importantly, Kay believes in me and my dreams. 5 months ago, I didn’t think going to university, let alone finishing 6th form was achievable…. Now thanks from the support of my mentor and Transitions UK charity, I am going to university to study social work. Thank you
Transitions UK has helped me with a lot of things, they’ve supported me with my mental health by getting me in with a private therapist, they also helped me in a time of need by coming over for a chat and providing a friendship, I’ve had the pleasure of having two mentors that are helping in other aspects of my life.
It’s helped with getting out of the house, making action plans to sort out my health and I’ve managed to significantly reduce my alcohol use. I aim to stop it, so I can one day be a drug and alcohol counsellor.
I’m soon to start volunteering with Sofea to get some work experience and a reference so it can help with my future career. I never felt that I had a future but now I believe I have a future.
Thank you for taking me on as a volunteer, I don't think you will ever understand just how much this means to me, I have spent my entire lifetime looking to be a part of a project whereby I could use my extensive experiences across the board to help young people trapped in many of the same experiences as myself, with my history of the young offenders system, with police, with being moved across placements 54 times in 5 years period in the care system, with my own mental health and disability battles, and a close call with drugs as youngster. If only I knew then what I know now, that it is hard, sometimes impossible to obtain a job, that I would struggle so hard to find a place to use my knowledge and experiences to help others in similar situations because of my criminal history.
I have waited a lifetime for somebody to take a chance on me, although I do accept that some of those years have been vitally useful, spent learning coping strategies to better cope with my autism and mental health diagnoses and so that I can become wiser and become less angry with the world for how it fails young people and drains them of any aspirations for the future. Nobody prepared me for needing a job, in fact I was kicked out of school for the final time at only 12 years old! As I came out of my last secure unit at 16 I was driven to a flat and told to look after myself which went horribly wrong to say the least, I am so utterly in awe of the charity that you have put together to pick up these young people that are at great risk of disappearing from the system and becoming victims of crime, or being taken advantage of. I wish this concept had been around when I was teenager, perhaps I wouldn't still be jobless.
Thank you again for taking me on and overlooking my history, I honestly believe that I can be an asset to yourselves across several of the projects in time and I cannot wait to prove myself to you all for many years to come, thank you for giving me a purpose in life, it means the world.