STORIES

“Peer Ed has helped me to give me optimism and make me feel more confident in myself. I really enjoy raising awareness of youth homelessness.”   Lisa is a bright and bubbly 24-year-old who recently put herself forward to become a Peer Educator. She has been a 1625ip service user for many years, originally accessing

A Reboot Coach supported Amy using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as Amy was unhappy and was disengaging from her childcare course. Amy was able to make life-changing, positive choices.   Amy, just 18, was living independently after an irretrievable breakdown with her mother. Amy’s had only just moved into her new flat – her

Work to explore Wayne’s values was transformational. “Before Adam, my Reboot Coach, I was a bit scared and thinking what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do with my life. But with Adam, he’s sort of modelling me to get a better life, pushing me in the right direction to actually enjoy life.”

The support was “better than helpful!”   What was life like for you when you first came to 1625ip? My PA was going on maternity leave and knew that I was struggling with college work and home life as well. My confidence was low and I didn’t have much motivation. I was having a hard

  We focus on Maia’s involvement with the Youth Board and reflect upon her resilience and continued commitment to 1625ip in the wake of Covid-19. “It’s for the next generation…I know what it’s like to be a young person…if I can use my knowledge of how I was, or am…if I can use my experience

Jordan learnt a lot through mentoring “Having a mentor allows me to get my ideas out rather than staying in my own mind; they don’t shut you down.”   Jordan found it difficult to make and sustain friendships and focus on a route for education training or employment. Jordan often says he has ‘tried everything’

A Supported Lodgings host, Faye, provided life changing support for Nicky. Nicky says ‘We talk about college a lot and uni and that sort of thing. Faye really good with helping me keep to my attendance. I let my attendance slip quite badly but Faye helped and will knock on my door and support me.’

Supporting Juan to understand Universal Credit, obtain part-time work, and gain independent living skills.   Juan was referred to floating support after moving into a private tenancy and leaving a supported housing scheme. Prior to this he had lived with his grandparent who had unfortunately passed away and he wasn’t able to inherit the tenancy.

The story of working to build a positive relationship with an asylum-seeking child, who has experienced trauma and struggled to trust and engage with professionals. Noor is a young Sudanese person who was moved to a foster placement, at the age of 16. By nature, all the Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) young people we

Brittany, a young single parent, was supported by her Floating Support Worker who walked ‘alongside’ her, and gave her the boost she needed.   Brittany presented at our drop-in to ask for support. Brittany was living in a mother and baby unit but had made an offer for a flat with another provider. Brittany wanted

Marie had moved from London to Bristol due to a relationship breakdown with mum. She had family members living in Bristol. Marie felt she wanted a new start and wanted to focus on employment, education and housing. She had experienced a traumatic relationship breakdown with her partner in London, with reports of harassment. She presented

I am proud of myself and how much I’ve achieved   What was the presenting issue? Kayla has a strong work ethic and was already in work but was at risk of losing job due to ongoing anxiety. She usually only managed to stay in a job for a few months before a crisis in

What was the presenting issue? Elijah was a care leaver who was referred to the Children and Young People Service (CYPS) project at 1625ip by his PA in the council in the Transition To Independence team. His support was about to be closed due to his age, but, his PA felt like he needed support,

“This course made me realise how much experience I have gained through volunteering and this reflection reminded me about how important youth work is to me.” Bobby has identified that he would like to train in youth work because he would like to develop a career working with and supporting young people. Bobby and his

Johnny had struggled with education in the past and presented with a number of significant physical and mental health challenges. Nevertheless, he wanted to explore interesting things that he could do with his time. Johnny had been living in high support accommodation for six months. During that time, he had been learning how to manage

Andrew lived with his Mum but due to ongoing conflict he ended up living at the elsewhere. After a period, he returned to live with his Mum, but unfortunately this broke down again and he returned to other supported housing. Andrew found this environment incredibly difficult to manage and this had a detrimental impact on

Damon had to leave his family home due to a breakdown in the relationship with his father. Damon had struggled with the school system as he felt that they did not understand his needs well – he suffers from a rare condition affecting his sight and is legally classed as partially blind. In addition to

A bit about Kayleigh Kayleigh describes her life before 1625ip as difficult. She lived with her family in a house that was overcrowded. She had to share a bedroom with her 3 siblings and her newborn baby daughter which came with a lot of challenges. Kayleigh described the relationship between her and her family as

A story of a young person who experienced the trauma of an abusive relationship, who initially struggled to trust support workers. She now lives independently with her baby, and confidence in the future ahead.   Before she came to live with 1625 Independent People, Sophie had suffered a lot of trauma. She had a strained

A story of a young person who had been in foster care for a long time, and then at 18 she was sofa surfing. She is now engaged with many activities with 1625ip, and enjoys living in a shared house.   When I first came to 1625 Independent People (1625ip) I’d left foster care 6

A story of supporting a care leaver, a young person with complex mental health issues Jane is a 19-year-old care leaver with a complex history of mental health issues. From the age of 13, Jane has been under the care of the Local Authority. She received a high level of support from CAHMS and was

A story of supporting a young person through education, employment and training   We started working with Jake in June 2018. Jake’s barriers included having no experience of the workplace and high levels of anxiety around being around people. He identified his goals as to gain experience of retail work, to build his confidence, and

Ari found a home and made a family. Ari was a single mum, homeless, fighting to make a home for her child.   Life when Ari came to 1625 Independent People. I needed to flee from my daughter’s father and my mum was in Bristol at the time and all I wanted was my mum.

A story of a young person developing through 1625ip’s opportunities for engagement and learning, overcoming mental health struggles, volunteering with 1625ip, and prevention of youth homelessness through Peer Education and peer mentoring.  Caleb has come from a violent and unstable family life dealing with aggressive behaviour and his own gender acceptances. After needing the safety

A story of consistent and long-term support from 1625ip through different supported accommodation, financial management support, volunteering at 1625ip and training opportunities.   Having been rejected from the family home as a teenager Ben was in care but because of his age at 16 he was homeless and came to 1625 for help. He stayed

“Future Builders gave me the hope that good things can happen, I didn’t have to stay in that situation.” Why did Alex need support from 1625ip? Alex was living at home with her parents but they had a difficult relationship. They often argued which was impacting Alex’s mental health. She had finished her college course

Through his Reboot West Coach building a trusting relationship and exploring values rather than goals, Ezra disclose more to his Coach, which ultimately led him to being in a much safer, happier position today. Why did Ezra need support from 1625ip? Ezra moved to Bristol in Sept 2019 from a children’s home environment into his

Why did Katie need support from 1625ip? Before meeting Katie, we were told by her social worker and other professionals that she struggled to engage with professional support. She didn’t reach out for support, didn’t answer text messages or phone calls, and sometimes didn’t answer the door. Fortunately, the Reboot West project allows the time

Why did Oscar need support from 1625ip? Oscar spoke to his support worker about his concerns about his mental health. He lacked the confidence to go out because of his disability and was worried about peoples judgements. His support worker suggested finding Oscar a mentor with who he could spend time, and do things to

Rohan was feeling increasingly isolated through the COVID pandemic, fortunately, he was supported to find new and exciting work experience to boost his confidence and progress to independence. Why did Rohan need support from 1625ip? Rohan was referred to the Reboot West project through his personal assistant over the summer break. He was progressing from

Why did James need support from 1625ip? When James started working with his support worker, he had recently moved from a hostel into his own housing association flat. He was suffering from anxiety stemming from feelings of isolation, as he had little contact with his family. Although James has a close friend, he lives an

Why did Ellie need support from 1625ip? When Ellie came to 1625ip, her life was unstable and she was unsure about home. She had recently been placed back with her family after a 7-month hospital admission despite tensions with her family and she feared that this was not a suitable place for her. However, at

Why did Jazmine need support from 1625ip? Jazmine faced challenges to her physical, mental, and emotional health from a very young age following traumatic experiences of rejection and instability in her home life. This led to difficulties in forming attachments with peers and trusted adults, which impacted Jazmine’s schooling significantly. During her early adolescent years,