Youth – Transitions
Transitions UK is working with disadvantaged young people aged 15 years to 25 years and supporting them to make a positive transition to a positive and happy life.
We will work with a wide group of young people who need and want help to move forward in their lives. Person centred approaches and volunteer based peer support will be key planks in all the bridges we will work to build for young people. Relational support is an essential part of all that we do to work with young people.
We have a number of programmes aimed at different needs:
ACHIEVE – for young people with special needs and learning disabilities
The Achieve Programme supports young people with special needs to become more independent and more included in our communities. This group of young people are among the most deprived and discriminated against groups in our society, 1 in 4 say they have no friends at all. less than 1 in 5 have any form of employment and they are excluded from many opportunities that others take for granted.
The Achieve Programme works with special schools and colleges to identify those who can most benefit from befriending and support. Specific local projects will then help them to access their own communities and to gain self esteem and the confidence to try new things and form new and positive relationships.
Our first project in this programme is based in Luton where we will be working in partnership with Woodlands Special School – set to become the largest secondary special school in the country. For more details of the Transitions PLus project click <here>
AFFIRM – for young people with emotional and mental health needs
Teenage mental health is an increasing issue on the UK. The roots are complex and can often be traced back to family issues as well as personal issues and peer pressure and so forth. This is often experienced as depression and self harm; sometimes as anger and disengagement etc. Having friends who are really there for you when it matters makes all the difference. Using peer and older befrienders and mentors, the Affirm programme will work to break the grip of low self esteem and self-condemnation and give young people a support network and the friendship of people of their own age and older who can affirm who they are and help them achieve their full potential.
ASPIRE – for young people at risk of offending or re-offending.
School exclusion can often lead young people into a spiral of unhelpful relationships and poor role models, which they can find difficult to escape. The ASPIRE programme will work with referrals from schools, colleges and from the probationary service to offer positive role models and experiences to help those young people move forward in their lives and be the best they can be. Some young people struggle with school type environments and the programme will use person centred approaches to find ways of engaging each young person in ways that offer a better pathway and the help to take it.