Groundwork helped me start my dream career

A young woman from Morecambe has praised the development programme run by Groundwork that helped her to start her dream career.

Before getting involved in the Invest In Youth project, Kyanna, aged 21, had been out of work for 2 months. She’d always had a good work ethic and never had any problems finding a job. However, most of these roles were unskilled labour, often requiring her to carry out simple repetitive tasks. She quickly became demotivated and lost her enthusiasm for each job. With no opportunities to develop new skills, Kyanna’s life became a vicious circle of one unskilled job after another.

A number of issues and circumstances had affected Kyanna’s confidence and self esteem prior to this. After her mum died, Kyanna was housed by Barnados. With no support network of family and friends, she’d been mainly left to take care of herself.  Kyanna always wanted to work in social care, supporting children and young people. Without any qualifications, this seemed little more than a dream.  She knew she was capable of doing much more with her life, but didn’t know where to start.

It was the local community centre that told Kyanna about the Invest In Youth programme, which is delivered in Lancashire by Groundwork. It aims to transform the futures of young people aged between 15 and 24 who would like to work but are unable to, without additional skills or support. After deciding to sign up to the programme, Kyanna was assigned a mentor from Groundwork, called Rachel. She says this was the first time she’d ever had someone in her life that had believed in her. It was also the first time she had received support for anything work related, such as getting qualifications and building a CV.

Prior to working with Rachel, Kyanna was unaware that residential childcare roles also provided training up to Level 5. This meant that she could work and continue her education at the same time.

I thought it was too late for me, but Rachel reassured me that it was still possible.

Kyanna continues the story….

“When I first heard about Invest In Youth I’d just come out of yet another factory job. I’ve always been passionate about having a career in adolescent social care. Unfortunately, due to my personal circumstances I’d never gained any relevant qualifications. I thought it was too late for me, but Rachel reassured me that it was still possible.”

“Rachel believed in me. She helped me to gradually build my confidence and together, we looked at relevant college courses that I could go on.  Rachel was so supportive and proactive throughout, even taking me to job fairs. It was going to one of these job fairs that eventually led to me having an interview for the role of a Residential Childcare Worker. I was so nervous, because I didn’t have the relevant qualifications. Rachel went above and beyond in supporting me and made sure I felt confident and prepared for the interview.  I can’t describe how good I felt when I was offered the job.”

I would never have had the belief to achieve any of this without Rachel and Groundwork.

“I cannot thank Rachel enough for all she has done for me and for her continued support. I would never have had the belief to achieve any of this without Rachel and Groundwork.”

Groundwork Youth Mentor, Rachel Denby, says “Working with young people like Kyanna and seeing her achieve her potential and her dreams is what makes my job so worthwhile. She needed a lot of support, particularly with preparing for interviews and job applications but she performed brilliantly at her interview. She has worked really hard and fully deserves her success and I could not be more proud of her.”