NEWSLETTER March 2014
my story, my voice A
few years ago we dedicated an entire newsletter to the voices of the young people that we have the pleasure of knowing and that you support. The response from that newsletter was so positive that we’ve decided to do it again. Every comment and story that you read is their voice, testifying to the impact that we’re making in their lives. Testimonies like John who simply wanted to say: “When I am upset or angry east to west give me advice and calm me down…I have someone to talk to, someone to help me with techniques to calm myself down at home. I know that I can’t control everything at home but because they are really helpful and down to earth and easy to talk to I’ve learnt not to let things get to me and how to get yourself out of a bad situation.” Or as another young person called Clare put it: “you’ve done more for me in 3 sessions that I’ve experienced in 6 months from others.”
Whilst this newsletter is full of their voices, the stories have been anonymised and the images are purchased stock photos in order to keep them safe.
These are their stories, their voice as they encounter Hope
Sophie’s Story I can remember my Nana a little, my dad was really close to her and was devastated when she died, this was the beginning of it all going downhill.
"I love hav someone ing the for me w re was on m ho y side"
I was in Year 4 when my mum picked me up half way through the day, so I knew something was wrong. In the car she told me that my dad was in hospital, when I saw him he looked strange, his face didn’t look right, he couldn’t move one of his arms and legs; he’d had a stroke. I am messy around the house, I am not as bright like my sister, dad and I don’t get on, we argue a lot...I can’t do anything right, we shout at each other a lot and it’s been that way since he came home from hospital. He needs to keep calm and not get so stressed, I cause him stress... I’m scared I am going to cause him to have another stroke, a bad one, he could even die.
of my “Because west east to ’t feel n o d I r e work now” as lonely
My east to west worker helps me with my anxieties, emotions and arguments with dad. I’ve made myself sick for a few years, school & east to west are the first people to know and help me, I now seen a doctor about it. It all just makes my dad more stressed and cross at me, he thinks I can control it and looks down at me, my mum doesn’t understand, it makes her upset, she doesn’t know how to help me so we don’t talk about it. Because of my east to west worker I don’t feel as lonely now as she is with me; it’s all out in the open, not a shameful secret. It eases the pressure and pain inside my body. I am stronger now and understand me better rather than it all taking over me!
Tom’s Story The 1:1’s with my east to west Relational Support Worker have been great for me as I have improved on my anger and my organisation skills. When I first started 1:1’s I was worried…. I was going to be telling a stranger my life story. When I walked in the room it was warm, it felt welcoming. They gave me a huge smile and introduced themselves. We sat there and spoke about what I wanted to talk about. After a while of getting to know them I started opening up. They never laughed at me, never said their opinion and never was rude to me. They just listened. In my 1:1’s I have been doing some anger exercises and some organisation skills work. My 1:1’s have been great fun and I love having someone there for me who was on my side. They also welcome everyone no matter what their situation is. Now I’m cutting my 1:1’s down as I feel I doing much better. But I will always know that no matter what I can always come back and talk to them and I know they will listen and understand what I will say.
Zach’s Story " I now feel ave happy and h l learnt to dea er" g n a y m h it w
Natasha’s Story Once every two weeks I go to see my east to west worker for one hour to help build my confidence. Sometimes things don’t always go well at school. It may be friendships, homework or assessments which I find really tricky. My east to west worker is there to talk about ideas on how I can cope with these difficulties. We talk about what I like doing at home and how I can keep myself calm when it all gets too much. When I first started seeing them I felt really sad and was very angry with everyone. I now feel happy and have learnt to deal with my anger in a different way. We sit down in a room and talk about how my week has been and if there was any bad days. They help me by listening and gives me ideas on how to turn things around into a positive. Also my Relational Support Worker tries to give me a challenge each time I see her and these can be varying challenges including finding an activity which is not computer or gadget based…or going out more with friends…keeping a diary with my feelings and positive comments and going swimming which is something I enjoy. I enjoy my one to one support sessions as it has helped me to feel more confident about myself and reduced my anger a lot.
My name is Zach, before I met east to west I was pretty much down in the dumps; I was with the wrong crowd of people doing bad things such as smoking and fighting. One day I had a major outburst and someone told me to come and see east to west where I could release all my anger, I was able to tell someone everything, knowing it would be treated in confidence. I kept on attending sessions for about five or six months and eventually I was back to my original self. My support worker has helped me through everything, from making my school grades better, my attitude to learning better and getting my selfconfidence back. Now I am in my last months of school with a clear mind so I can focus on getting good GCSE grades for the future, but also know that if I have a problem I can go to east to west where they will help me and won’t judge or laugh at me. When my mum came into school I had to introduce her to my support worker as they’ve helped me so much.
s back "eventually I wa elf" to my original s
Simon’s Story I see my support worker every day because he’s also my tutor (editors voice: some of our schools ask our team to be tutor to a small group of vulnerable students – that way we can check in with them every day). I like being in his tutor group because I can talk about my problems. I like going to see him because he’s funny and kind, and during tutor I get to play games and talk.
''it's a kind of outlet for me''
He always tries to help me channel and control my behaviour and as a result I go to Anger Management with him. He also comes to see me when I’ve been sent out of lessons due to my behaviour and listens to me and hears what I have to say. He is also there when I have to see important teachers due to my behaviour.
Sara’s Story My name is Sara and I am in year 7. I am 12 years old. I came to see my relational support worker to talk about my Nan after she died. It was very hard losing her in our family. She was always there for me and now she is gone. My relational support worker helped me get over the fear of the loss. We talked a lot about my Nan and the things that I didn't want to forget about her. We also made a bracelet together in memory of my Nan with her favourite colours and charms to represent the things she loved to do. Now I feel happier and feel like I don’t have to dwell on the past. I will never forget my Nan but I’ll only remember the good not the bad.
Nick’s Story Grief is a 5 letter word. A word that can destroy a person’s life, a word that can hold a lot of weight on a young 15 year olds shoulders. That is why I see my east to west support worker, you see I lost my mother not too long ago, in simple words it messed me up. I was never one to ask for help or one to talk about my problems, I tend to bottle it up and use my most favourite phrase; “I’m fine”. Sometimes I can actually delude myself into believing it, that’s one of the reasons why I visit my support worker, they help me understand, I can ask for help, I can talk about my problems. The fact that I can talk to someone helps, because he is not personally involved in my problems, it’s a kind of outlet for me. I fear that if I did not have them I would be far far worse instead of getting better.
east to west’s story as its unfolding over 2014
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ere’s a quick snapshot of the potential growth at east to west and we would love you to journey and pray this all through with us because in the rollercoaster of it all we have no way of knowing how much of this will happen – but we need to be ready. Family Link Work: As we enter our 4th year of delivering family link work in Windsor, 3 new schools have made enquiries about us expanding our work to include them. This could mean a September start with 6 first/primary schools. Secondary School Relational Support Work: We’ve started to have conversations with 3 new schools for possible September starts – who knows where this will lead – they are new to us and us to them but what we do know is they are keen to explore partnering with us. Supported Lodgings: We’re in renewal of contract season with Surrey which at the very least is about sustaining what we currently do across NE and NW Surrey (12 young people) but could…hold the press…involve expanding into SE and/or SW Surrey (28 young people). Updates as these stories unfold will be sent out on our prayer email, Facebook and Twitter.
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lease find enclosed a fold up money box – Our hope is that you’d enable your change to change lives. You can either drop the money into our office or count it up and send us a cheque. Thank you for your consideration.
east to west trust, Unit 3, 80 High Street, Egham, TW20 9HE Tel 01784 438007 www.easttowest.org.uk A company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England No. 6972769 Registered Charity No. 1131229
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