What People Say...

What the young people and the workers say?

Mike Trinder, Youth Worker, Newcastle Play and Youth Service:

Michael Bass tackled unit A – ‘Knowing myself’ – in 2002/3 but did not complete it for accreditation. At the same time he successfully completed unit F ‘Exploring risks’ which was accredited in May 2003.

A new group was started in 2005, and Michael has returned (with friends) to complete unit A, supported by me as his new mentor. This is on his day off from work.

Because of the changes that have occurred in Michael’s life between these two involvements with Getting Connected, it was decided to restart unit A again. We retained his tree of life ‘life story’, but he has added some comment to explain what events have occurred in the meantime.

Michael admits to getting much from doing Getting Connected this time around and is determined to achieve the full accreditation of five units.

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Erica became involved with Getting Connected as part of her e2e activities at Itec Training in Rutland.

“I was really happy when I’d completed all 9 units. I felt that I completed some good work successfully.

I set myself targets to work to and marked them off as I achieved them. Unit A helped me to break down large tasks into more manageable ones. By recognising my strengths and weaknesses I was able to build on them.

My favourite unit was ‘Managing Myself’. I found this unit to be interesting and enjoyable.

The best thing is that I chose to do Getting Connected and enjoyed it. I think the encouragement and support Becky and Ian [at Itec] provided was both helpful and they seemed to make it more enjoyable. Where things seemed to be difficult to me they broke it down and made it easier for me to understand.

Getting Connected was helpful for me. By actually being asked to identify and record things that I wouldn’t normally think about made me realise a lot e.g. what my views and opinions are. It also helped me to understand other people more.

I found unit I the most difficult, I didn’t think it was very well worded.”

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Elisabeth is 22. She moved into ‘Clarewood’ , a supported housing project in Neath managed by Trothwy Cyf, after leaving care at 18. Elisabeth has a baby daughter. Since completing these Getting Connected units Elisabeth has moved on to independent living and currently works five shifts per week in a charity shop.

“Hi, my name is Elisabeth. I have been doing Getting Connected for about 18 months and have completed 6 units. I have enjoyed doing units A, B. D, E and I. The unit that I have most enjoyed was unit F – Exploring risks. I always think now – is it safe to walk home by myself in the dark or is it safe to drink so much alcohol?

All the units have helped me to deal with a lot of issues like how to cope with feelings and how to handle relationships.

I would advise anyone to have a go at Getting Connected because it has made such a difference in my life. It has helped me to see things a lot more clearly and to understand my feelings better. I now look forward to doing another unit with Lyn, my mentor.

At this point I would like to sway that Lyn has been very supportive and helpful. She has shown me patience and understanding. I don’t think that I would have put so much effort into it and worked so hard if she hadn’t helped me as much as she did. Thank you, Lyn.

I would also like to say thank you to Gillian for bringing Getting Connected into ‘Clarewood’ because otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance and support to do it. So thank you Lyn and Gillian for giving me the chance to do something that I may not have done without your help and understanding. Thank you.”

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Jackie Turner has achieved OCR accreditation for all nine Getting Connected units. As she herself explains, she is one of a small number of learners involved with Getting Connected who are ‘no longer young people’. Jackie accessed Getting Connected through Scarborough Community Education, North Yorkshire County Council.

“I have been asked to contribute to the website as I have completed all 9 units of Getting Connected.

My problems started with separation from my mother at birth and no bonding. I was also allergic to baby milks! My Grandma constantly told me how worthless and useless I was and never spoke to me as a person. I therefore grew up “knowing” this and believed I wasn’t a person.

Eventually I went to the Mental Health services and was given excellent help from a counsellor and medication. Later, a job ended badly and I “got stuck” again and, for a long period, was unable to fill in an application form for work. I started to go to a Christian Healing Centre where I still receive ever so much healing and then I came across the Getting Connected leaflet. I was very interested but was not sure if I could join as I am no longer a young adult. However, I contacted the mentor who encouraged me to join and, in fact, there were even graduates on the course as well as those who have never had any sort of qualification and a real mix of ages but the mentor managed to make a united group out of us. Class work also very much complemented the healing work of the centre.

Now I visit people with Caring Together, I am a Civic Society trustee and a member of the Patient and Public Involvement in Health Forum. With help from the mentor, I put in a job application (which I was previously unable to do) and have just started doing some teaching of English for Speakers of Other Languages – and am still busy studying to qualify for this! I recently received the North Yorkshire County Council Adult Learners’ Week Award, for which my Getting Connected mentor had entered me.

I think that what was so helpful about Getting Connected was the contact with the mentor and the discussions in class which helped us realise we all have problems and how good it is to learn to trust each other and talk things through. Yet the main thing seems to have been to challenge my attitude of looking at things and writing myself off as the one person in the world who cannot do anything right and, instead, look to see what elements are OK and then how to improve on the elements which weren’t so good, in the knowledge that this applies to everyone. My new life attitude is not to condemn myself but to encourage myself to see what is OK and to learn and improve from what I don’t do well.”

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Judy from Nottinghamshire was one of the first successful learners to secure accreditation for her work on Getting Connected. Below she sets out her views on what she did and how it has helped her.

"My name is Judy and I am 24. I have been unemployed for six months. Throughout my unemployment I have been supported by my key worker at the Acorn Initiative on several different issues, mainly problems I had whilst on the New Deal. My worker picked up that I needed to build my confidence and that is when Getting Connected was first introduced to me.

We first discussed the different units and which ones I thought were relevant to my life at that time. The units we decided to concentrate on at first were Knowing Myself, Managing Myself and Handling Relationships. The first helped me see why I found communication with people difficult, also why I felt aggressive and how to handle that aggression with assertive behaviour. The second unit helped me, with the support of my worker, look at my interests, how I manage my time with my outdoor voluntary work, also how I manage my budget - looking at what I spend my money on such as accommodation, magazines, etc. It also helped me set realistic job goals and look at what I want in the future.

The third unit was difficult but the one I learned most from. Through doing the unit my confidence has grown and I am now more assertive. I am not easily put off any more and I now stand up for my rights. It also showed me how to receive and give constructive, negative and critical feedback. My worker showed me how to analyse criticism rather than just soaking it all up and believing it straight away.

Whilst doing the first three units I also worked on two of the others. The first of these was Giving and Getting Support and that involved looking at where and how I get support and how I give support to others. We also looked at how I feel receiving and giving support through my voluntary work as a volunteer ranger. The second unit was Exploring Risks and this tested knowledge on recreational drugs and the dangers involved in sexual activity.

I have really enjoyed the Getting Connected programme. It has increased my confidence, and also my knowledge of myself and others. It has helped me make decisions about my future. I am now more prepared to take a risk, for example going somewhere new and meeting people for the first time. Doing this programme and having the continuing support from my key worker has helped me put past negative experiences behind me and move on, giving me a more positive attitude to life.

Thanks Annette for all the support.
Judy."

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James from the South West is a white, 18 year old male who left care at 16 and experienced many difficulties around accommodation, substance use and offending behaviour before being involved with Getting Connected. As James was 17 when he enrolled on the front end of the Learning Gateway, he received a training allowance.

James’ long-term goals included staying drug free and becoming fit, as well as controlling his offending behaviour. James wanted to get his "brain into gear" so he could gain some academic qualifications. He saw the Getting Connected course as a way of building his self-esteem and confidence and of enabling him to develop the skills to be able to eventually join the armed services. Throughout the Getting Connected course, James often found talking and writing about his personal relationships quite difficult. He would often "skim" the surface of such issues.

James’ attendance was 100% and his timekeeping was generally very good. James completed three units – Knowing Myself, Managing Myself and Exploring Risks. He also completed some of the Handling Relationships unit and made some inroads into Coping with Feelings.

Since being involved with Getting Connected James has found employment with an agency and he has also managed to address his housing needs. He and a friend have found a two bedroom flat to share.

Part of James’ evaluation of Getting Connected was that he felt he was more self-disciplined because of it. This is shown in his determination to find a job and having the ability to work shifts.