The project is part funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund 2014-2020 and the Department for the Economy.
Participant's story
This is the story of a young person who was due to finish Year 12 in 2019, but left school early in 2018. From the age of 16 she was on a reduced timetable in school, with struggles at home impacting on both her attendance and performance.
With anxiety and depression taking hold the young person struggled to interact with others and also with being around other people. She left school early due to factors both at home and school.
The young person’s school continued to work with her and supported her through the Education Authority, providing one-to-one sessions, and in year 12 she achieved passes in a number of GCSEs including Art and English.
Her confidence was extremely low at this stage, but she started an Open College Network (OCN) course in carpentry and joinery at a Women’s Tech. Unfortunately, she didn’t enjoy the course and eventually dropped out.
Really trying to find work at this stage, the young person gained employment at a local pizzeria. This was ultimately not what she wanted to do with her life and she was aware of the importance of trying to gain her Maths GCSE or Essential Skills. In March 2020 Covid-19 arrived and she found herself initially furloughed and then unemployed. Through a conversation with one of her peers at the pizzeria, she was told about the Give and Take Start programme.
Joining Give and Take programme
The young person immediately contacted the Youth Worker at a nearby Give and Take site and essentially hit the ground running from the start of April, completing OCN Level 1 Progression to Employment, Basic First Aid, Level 1 IFA Grassroots Football Coaching and is still completing her Level 2 in Application of Number which she hopes to achieve by August 2021.
Full-time employment
She moved on from the programme when she gained full time employment as a Production Operative with a business in her local town. She is enjoying the role, hopes to complete her Maths and is keen to access more career advice from the Give and Take Start team in the future. She has also expressed an interest in supporting other young people by virtue of her own experiences.
The young person is now a full-time permanent member of staff with a driving licence and car, she feels that her life is back on track and she couldn’t be happier.