We wanted to share Callum's journey to help remind us of how important youth hubs are for vulnerable young people.
Building trust:
Callum used to hang around outside of our youth hub when it first started, reluctant to come in. After a few conversations with our highly trained support workers, he expressed how he struggled to trust adults.
We discovered that Callum was often left home alone and felt lonely:
"He hadn’t grown up in the best circumstances and a lot of the people that should have been there for him hadn’t... I felt saddened by his story."
- Motiv8 Senior Support Worker
After building a relationship with Motiv8 staff, he eventually joined and began to enjoy the Hub and the friendships he was making.
How Hub became a safe space in a difficult situation:
Just before Christmas Callum brought a couple new friends to the youth hub.
They arrived an hour early and appeared anxious. It was later discovered that some strangers were following and harassing them in a car. The hub meant they had a safe place to go to where they could be happy and secure.
"One week he turned up an hour early for the session, knocking on the back door with two of his friends. When asked why, he said that people had been chasing them in a car, he didn’t know who they were but he was clearly worried."
- Motiv8 Senior Support Worker
The boys were praised for coming to the hub for safety and not confronting the strangers. This information was shared with the police to ensure the safety of Callum and his friends.
Even difficult journeys can have a positive outcome:
The first few hub sessions with Callum were difficult, he pushed boundaries and found it challenging to respect the rules.
We knew we had to build on the relationship with Callum through engaging activities including cooking, gaming, team building and other group projects. This helped slowly build his confidence in us.
As Callum began to respect hub rules, the environment became a friendly, fun and pleasant space for all.
Over the last few months Callum has became a very positive influence for his friends and peers, they look up to him and trust him.
"Despite all of the concerns, Callum’s progress and behaviour within the hub is amazing and the positive influence he has over others is fantastic. In addition to this he is beginning to trust the workers at the Youth Hub and rely on them in times of need which is remarkable ."
- Motiv8 Senior Support Worker
Your donation can help support other vulnerable young people like Callum, and a safe space to help them make positive life changes. Any contribution, large or small would be highly appreciated. For more info visit: www.@motiv8south.org.uk