Male Yr 11 school leaver
A young person from Whittlesey is involved with the Youth Offending Team and had been for approximately a year prior to the UProject. He has special needs and had been excluded from his secondary school.
The young person was keen to attend the project and returned his paperwork quickly which is a huge outcome for this individual as he has never fully participated of his own accord in any other project prior to this one. He remained in contact with the Youth worker throughout the planning sessions and team building days and attended everything, which again is a big achievement. On the day of the residential the young person did not turn up for the coach. However the project staff managed to persuade him to come, and organised extra clothing etc which was a barrier for him attending. Throughout the build up to the project the young person was supported in completing his college application form and in posting it to the college.
During the residential the young person made friends and actively engaged with the activities and the portfolio building, despite feeling nervous and under confident about his writing and reading capabilities. He also increased his confidence by taking the lead in some activities and encouraged others too. On the bus journey home I was talking to him about helping a Youth worker to secure some funding to do a project he was interested in and he agreed to help by doing a presentation to other young people on why this group should receive the funding which he would never have done before the UProject.
Since the project the young person has secured a part time job and has been in contact with the college about attending a different course. The young person has also created a presentation and presented it via a video recording to a local Youth Bank and was successful in achieving approx £2,500 to go to Gauntlet Auto Project with 12 other young people with a view to reducing Anti-Social Behavior in the local area.
Without attending the UProject he would never have agreed to support the funding process and would never have mixed with young people from Wisbech as this has challenged his perceptions of young people from Wisbech and has provided him with the confidence to move forward with his future plans.