When we first met Stephen he was looking for a new direction. During our Step Up course he discovered an interest in Logistics and Shipping and has since turned it into a successful career.

Here’s Stephen’s story:

My name is Stephen and I’m 20 years old. I completed Team Programme, Reignite, NCS and Step Up with Inspire.

I had no confidence and no drive to do anything. I was doing mechanics at college, but I lost my interest and was struggling to find a new career.

I found out about Team programme at the Job Centre and started my 9-month journey with Inspire.

At first, I thought, ‘Can I really do this?’ but after two weeks I was enjoying it so much I wanted to progress through and see where my life went.

I came out of my shell on NCS and went straight on to the Step Up course where Lindsay and Carl from MSC came to speak to us about apprenticeships. I was interested and went for an interview. I went in nervous, but I got more comfortable talking as time went on.

I am now working at MSC in exports and my goal is to complete my apprenticeship and gain a full-time job with the company.

I would like to thank all the Inspire Staff for all they’ve done for me. My life has changed so much. I’ve gained confidence, experience and discovered new opportunities.

Stephen’s commitment to the programmes has led to a well-deserved apprenticeship and he is going from strength to strength. He is a great role model for so many young people who are looking for a second chance.

Before she met Inspire, Marylou was a stay at home mum to her 6-year-old son. She was focussing on job searching at the Job Centre, however her depression was getting the better of her and her confidence was at a real low point. Marylou says that she was even scared of getting a job because of her mental health and confidence issues at the time. Another issue which she faced was having severe dyslexia which stopped her from getting qualifications at school.

Marylou met one of our Inspire youth workers at a job fair who told her all about our programme running in Sudbury for 12 weeks, the Prince’s Trust Team programme, which would most importantly help to build her confidence, build skills needed for work, and give her lots of experiences to allow her to progress onto a positive next step. She thought it sounded like a beneficial thing to do with her time fitting it around job searching and whilst her son was at school. When she got the call to tell her she had a place, she said she was really pleased, but didn’t know what to expect!

At first, she was nervous. She didn’t go on the week-long team activity trip away because she had to look after her son, but she didn’t let that stop her. In the coming weeks her confidence in herself and within her team really grew, something which she now says really surprised her. The course made her put herself into situations out of her comfort zone, including speaking to members of the public to get support for their community projects and work experience placements. She even took the lead with her Supporting Others project, asking people for help and to attend their event to support.

Her work experience placement was the highlight of her time with Inspire. Marylou spent two weeks volunteering at an Oxfam charity shop, working on the tills, cash handling, and sorting stock. She had done this years ago, before her son was born, however she felt like she was in a much better place to do it now with her new-found confidence. She enjoyed this so much, she continued to volunteer at the shop once she had completed the course whilst she was job searching.

She also conquered her fears and stood up in front of a room full of people at her Graduation Presentation at the end of the course, to talk about her journey, how she had overcome her mental health and confidence issues and was now in a much better place in her life.

“They really helped me to believe in myself. I improved my CV and work skills and gained so much confidence. I am so proud of how far I’ve come!”

Since then, Marylou has secured a job at her local McColls convenience store and is really loving working there and having some structure. She currently works 3 evenings at the store and is the first person they will call with overtime opportunities as she has proved herself to be hardworking and willing. She is also now focussing on herself and gaining her qualifications which she didn’t gain at school. She has completed her Level 1 Maths qualification this September and now will be focussing on her Level 2. She has her sights set on achieving her English qualifications too, to help her move up the career ladder and support her son. Her ambitions don’t stop there, with hopes to move up in her career and hopefully become a supervisor in the retail sector.

Annabelle wasn’t doing much before Inspire met her. She attended college the September before for just one day when her anxiety kicked in and got the better of her. She didn’t do anything for about a year following this. She experienced panic attacks every day and wouldn’t leave the house alone. She isolated herself and didn’t speak to anyone, so she started to lose touch with her friends.

It was seeing her friends making something of themselves that spurred her on to do something. She didn’t think she was ready to go back to college and wanted to build her confidence before her next step and shut down her anxiety.

Her mum’s friend recommended the Prince’s Trust Team programme ran by Inspire in Lowestoft, which she was nervous about but soon realised that everyone was in the same boat!

Residential was the pivotal moment for her. She had settled into the group and started to come out of her shell without realising it! She hadn’t done anything like the course before.

She surprised herself by finding that she was enjoying the activities which involved team building, group activities and helping in the community, which included talking to members of the public which she would never have done before.

She tried every new task she was set, even if it was completely out of her comfort zone such as dressing up as a tin of SPAM in the middle of the town centre. Because of Annabelle throwing herself into every task, it meant that others who were also anxious followed suit too.

Part of the reason the course was so great for Annabelle, was that they were always busy doing something and enjoying it that she didn’t have time to worry or be anxious about what was coming next, which she’d usually do.

She says: “I have improved on a lot of skills and qualities over the 12 weeks. These include confidence, teamwork and communication skills as well as many others, these are the ones I value the most. This is because before the course doing teamwork and talking to people was a big fear for me, but now I have a lot more confidence not only when I am with the team but at home also.”

During the course, team members begin to plan for their next step following it. Annabelle knew that she wanted to go back to college but not in a large-sized college environment like before, which she found daunting. She found a course at Access to Music in Norwich to study Digital Media for three years, which would give her three A Levels and enable her to go to University afterwards if she wanted. Annabelle has a really keen interest in photography and film, so this course and college were perfect for her and she was so pleased to get a space!

Annabelle has held on to the confidence she developed on Team programme and continued to push and challenge herself to achieve bigger and better things. She completed her first year to an extremely high standard and is now in her second year at college and is really enjoying it.

She has started to look at Universities for Film Studies courses and has some interviews lined up. She has a good group of friends who she goes out with regularly, she has developed her social wellbeing and now supports others who are feeling down and anxious about things within her peer group. Annabelle continues to be an inspiration as she agreed to take part in filming for Inspire to encourage other to take up the opportunities we provide so they too can reap the benefits she has experiences.

“Inspire made me realise that your problems don’t define who you are and shouldn’t stop you from doing what you want to do”

Following the programme, her parents said that Annabelle had become a completely new person. She has such a massive boost in confidence and it was making such a difference to her entire life and others around her too! During the 12 weeks on Team, she developed from an incredibly shy girl who barely spoke during her initial interview to a confident young lady who was ready to take on the challenges life was going to throw at her.

Luke was born with a 4% chance to live due to a heart condition and just wanted to be treated like everyone else. He joined Inspire to make new friends as his recent move to Felixstowe had meant he’d had to leave his old life behind.

Here is Luke’s story:

My name is Luke Chambers, I am 21 years old.

Before I started Team Programme, I moved from Harlow to Felixstowe. I was worried I wouldn’t make any friends as I was leaving 20 years of my life behind.

I did the Team Programme to meet new people. I have speech problems, cerebral palsy and left-side weakness, so I was always conscious of what people would think of how I walked and how I spoke.

I really liked working as a group during the programme as it was then that we got to know each other and I met one of my close friends.

I had to have an operation half way through the course and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to finish because I thought I’d need to stay at home for a few weeks to recover. After I did my work experience I went straight into the operation. While I was in hospital, all the team were texting me and I was keen to come back to show everyone who was worried about me that, if I can come back from the operation, nothing can stop you.

The tutors helped me get a job at Tescos – I’ve been there for 7 months now and have been able to make even more friends. The experience helped me develop my social skills and my confidence in myself. Before I didn’t have much confidence as I kept applying from jobs and never heard back and was starting to get depressed.

Inspire helped me become who I am now – I couldn’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me.

Luke recently won Inspirational Young Person at the Inspire Staff and Student Awards. His determination to set down solid foundations and overcome challenges is inspirational and we can’t wait to see what he does next!

George recently completed his apprenticeship with Inspire. He was a valued member of the Sports Team and, despite struggling to find his way in education, he really shone during his time with us.

This is George’s story..

“I was 15 years-old when I suddenly lost my dad. He took his own life. Throughout the last year at school I struggled with everything and didn’t know what I wanted to do. I attended Suffolk One, Suffolk New College and Copleston Sixth Form but it didn’t work out. My mental health suffered.

I had always loved watching sports and spending time with family and friends but I was feeling a bit lonely. My sister was away at university and I felt I had to be strong for my mum.

From the first day I joined Inspire, everyone was so friendly and welcoming. There was always someone to talk to if you had a problem. Being at Inspire has helped with my confidence, self-esteem and gave me a purpose and something to focus on.

Working with disabled young people, in particular, was very rewarding. I loved being part of the team and helping at Inspire’s events. I even organised a few staff trips to Bella Napoli’s!

I am now looking forward to Camp Canada.

I’d like to thank everyone at Inspire, including Emily, Ashleigh, Adam, Andy and the Sports Team for always being there and keeping me smiling.

I would definitely recommend an Inspire Apprenticeship to others, it is a rewarding experience which sets you up for life.”

We are proud of George and his exceptional journey. We look forward to following his next steps and are sure he’ll be exceptional at whatever he turns his hand to.

When he met Inspire, Cole was living in a hostel and wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to complete Team Programme. Cole’s anxiety and depression were holding him back from everyday challenges and he couldn’t even face getting on a bus.
Before Team Programme, I wasn’t doing much. I was floating around, volunteering and just watching the days go by really. I was in supported living for 5 years and every day was the same – there was nothing to do. My confidence was extremely low, I had no self-esteem, my anxiety was through the roof, I couldn’t even get on a bus.

At first, Team Programme was strange. I didn’t know if I could do it and the residential pushed me. I had to go away with people I didn’t know… it was very daunting. After a while, I started to get into the right mindset to push through. I was there to progress, to make something, to start building my life.

When we got back from the residential I was fully engaged and started to move forward. I thought if I can do one week with people I don’t know, what’s going to stop you?

Since finishing Team Programme, there have been massive improvements. I applied for an apprenticeship and succeeded – I’m really enjoying it. It’s now a case of propelling it forward, but without Team I wouldn’t have had the mindset to do it. It helped me hugely.

I’d like to thank Inspire as without this organisation you wouldn’t have been able to help me, or the hundreds, if not thousands of young people you already have.

During his time with Inspire, Cole’s pushed past the negativity and has gone on to achieve so many great things. He is now completing an apprenticeship at Suffolk County Council and is going from strength to strength.

Sam is a young man from Ipswich. Due to rent arrears, Sam found himself homeless for quite a few months. With no family connections in Suffolk, he found himself sofa surfing or staying overnight on the streets, with nowhere to call home and at a dead end before he joined Inspire.

Sam joined our Inspire Prince’s Trust Team programme initially to have something to keep him off the streets whilst he was homeless but quickly realised that he wanted to stick at it to build his skills and get onto a secure path in his life.

The team bonded and formed a strong group to take on the challenges which faced them all. Through the course and his work experience coaching children on sports holiday camps, Sam realised that he really enjoyed helping people to learn to do things.

During the course, Sam found a secure place to live at Christchurch House and attended an interview and gained a full-time job for a new trampoline park opening in Ipswich. He is really excited that the course has allowed him to realise and pursue his dream of sports coaching.

Sam says:

“I am enjoying having a routine and stability in my days, which I didn’t have before. I have grown as a person and feel like I’ve come so far.”

Sam plans to continue working at the trampoline park and build his career in coaching and has aims to move out of his supported housing into his own flat in the near future.

Ryan Taylor took part in our Team Programme run in conjunction with the Prince’s Trust at the start of 2014. With the help of Inspire, Ryan found his path and motivation and has a secure job at Total Car Parks.

He left High School with minimal qualifications – not due to lack of ability but more to do with the consistent conflict with teachers. Ryan was eventually excluded and moved to a nearby college where he had no choice but to do a course which had no interest in him.

With bills to pay and his partner who was expecting a baby to support, Ryan became self-employed and carried out some work travelling the country doing door to door sales. He experienced success for 18 months however, the demand dwindled and he was ended up priced out of the industry.

After an 8-month period of unemployment, Ryan found it frustrating looking for work as being self-employed left him with no references. His partner was pregnant again and the importance for him becoming employed became ever more essential. Ryan signed on at the Job Centre and began claiming Job Seekers Allowance. It was at this time that Ryan met his future Team Leader (Andy Crump from Inspire) in the Job Centre where they spoke about their Prince’s Trust Team programme and the value in re-gathering his career direction to get consistency for him to support his family with real motivation to get an outcome. Team is our 12-week programme in partnership with the Prince’s Trust, which works with 16-25 year olds who are not in education, employment or training to support young people onto a positive path whilst gaining new skills, work experience, and a recognised qualification.

Ryan admits that before the course he had not thought much about his future.

“Before I met Andy (from Inspire) I would spend my days just sitting on the couch at my family’s house, eating their food and having no direction in my life – I was also three stone heavier then too!”

Whilst completing Team Programme with Inspire, Ryan joined a relatively young team with the motivation to make the most out of his opportunity and not waste any more time on his erratic journey since leaving education. During the first week, it was clear that Ryan would become a well-respected team member due to his calm persona. Younger members of the group quickly attached themselves to him whilst showing glimpses of being able to not only support his peers but lead in group tasks with confidence.

Ryan took an opportunity with Total Car Parks for his work placement. This placement could not of been more successful and Ryan fitted straight in to the organisation and made such an impression utilising his interpersonal skills in customer service and was offered immediate employment from Total Car Parks. Understanding the importance of the programme, TCP’s agreed to hold Ryan’s offer until he completed the programme. Ryan flew through the rest of the programme, continuing to support his peers in their own personal journeys and on graduating was able to accept the opportunity of full-time employment.

To date, Ryan is still at Total Car Parks. He is now working in “New Business” generating new opportunities and creating new business contacts. He has also been given the responsibility of their website and design work for the company. His MD also entered him for an award at the British Parking Association Awards, as the “Young Parking Professional of the Year” and was really delighted to be considered for such recognition.

Since the arrival of his Son and his Second child, Ryan and his family have moved into a place in Ipswich and he feels really positive about his life, both family and work included. Ryan didn’t know what direction he was going to take and where Team programme would lead him, but he has found a supportive and positive working environment for him to develop within and still has plans to continue to progress within his new career.

Since finishing the course himself, Ryan has supported many more Team programmes. He often visits programmes with his MD to do motivational talks about his experience to help motivate them that they can achieve and be successful just like he did. This has been invaluable as it is told no better than from someone who has experienced it already.

“Since I graduated I’m much slimmer and I have a structure to my life. Every day I get up early and have a job with Total Car Parks, so I also have money to spend on my new family.”

A group of young people from our Team programme in Leiston have transformed the garden and woodland area at Leiston Primary School.

The Prince’s Trust Team programme is one of our leading programmes supporting 16-25-year-olds who are not currently in employment, education or training. As part of the programme, our young people take on a project to benefit their local community. They decided on the area at the Primary School because they were keen to engage with the local community to turn around many of the pre-conceptions the town had about young people.

They cleared the garden areas of overgrown plants and trees, made a seating circle for the children and brightened up the area by painting characters on trees and adding plants. They worked hard to improve the area which boosted their confidence and achievement in themselves and as a Team. There was a real sense of pride in all that they were able to achieve and the long-lasting benefit they have given to the school and the local community.

Neil Fox, Leiston Team Leader from Inspire said:

“The team has worked incredibly hard to complete this project and are really happy with the transformation of the garden. The aim of the programme is to create a more positive progression route for the young people who take part. This section of the course is so important for giving the members confidence in themselves and their skills, working as a team and feeling a sense of pride in something that they have created.”

As well as the community project, the students go on a residential activity trip, take part in work placements, engage with local companies and learn skills for work including CV building. On completion of the course they achieve a nationally recognised certificate from the Prince’s Trust in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills.

Our charity works hard to deliver the Team programme across Suffolk in partnership with The Prince’s Trust, which helps young people improve their confidence and self-esteem as they look to move on to new opportunities in employment, education or training. Find out more about the programme and where there is one near you here.

Team programme runs across Suffolk in Ipswich, Stowmarket, Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, and Coastal. To enquire about the programme, find the contact for your location here.

Before Inspire met Jodie, she had left her job to care for her mum. Jodie was working in a residential care home for the elderly, which was becoming very intense at the same time as balancing the pressures of caring for her mum, which made her stress and anxiety levels soar. She then became ill herself, so they were both acting as carers for each other!

Jodie focussed all of her energy and time on caring for her mum, which although it was very tiring for her, she found it really rewarding and had been a family carer for over 8 years since she was 14 years old. As time went on her mum started to become more independent and Jodie started to get better herself, and so she decided now was the time to put some focus on herself and pursue her career route.

Unfortunately, her job search was unsuccessful due to her health issues, which is when she discovered Inspire’s Prince’s Trust Team programme to work on her confidence and build her skills. Prior to joining the 12-week programme, Jodie was nervous about the social aspect of the course, due to not socialising with anyone outside of her family for a whole year since leaving her previous job. She said “being stuck at home with the same four walls was making me go mad”.

A natural leader appeared in Jodie and a commanding voice emerged that she didn’t know she had. She successfully led the team through a fantastic community project at Leading Lives, a centre supporting adults with learning disabilities in Suffolk, transforming their garden alongside the centre’s users. She also excelled at her work experience with a charity, Avenues East, running activities for people with disabilities, which took her out of her comfort zone and got her into a routine, but most importantly helped her to realise which career path she’d like to take. The rest of the team relied on Jodie as a leader, supporting her peers to get over their barriers as well as her own.

“Before the course, I wasn’t leaving the house. I was anxious, socially awkward and wouldn’t have spoken to anyone. Now I am a lot more confident, I can talk about my past and my journey and feel more open to talking to people that I haven’t met before”

Jodie embraced every challenge that faced her. She was nervous that her health may inhibit her during the programme, but she didn’t miss a day and started to realise that she was capable of many things and that her health wouldn’t hold her back any longer. Jodie’s mum was a key part of her journey too, pushing her to come onto the programme above Jodie caring for her and she really enjoyed seeing Jodie do something for herself.

Following finishing Team programme, Jodie spent a week volunteering with Avenues East on a trip to Mersea Island, supporting people with disabilities as one of the leaders and caring for them all day and night. She now has a job at Leading Lives working as a Support Worker where she has been there for over a year. She now appreciates how important it is to focus on herself as well as others and realises that she was neglecting herself before she joined Inspire.

“I feel very proud of where I am now. Before I was always very down and low, but now I feel happy and positive a lot of the time. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Jodie wants her story of inner strength to inspire other young carers and young people who have challenges to overcome. She feels that she has come so far and is excited for the future.

“I feel like Inspire saved my life. It really helped me to feel motivated and do something”

Jessica met Inspire in 2013 when she felt like she was at a dead end. These days she takes extreme pride in the work she does and encourages every individual to meet their goals, but this is a long way off the girl who joined Inspire’s Team programme.

In 2013, when Jessica met Inspire, she had dropped out of college where she was studying sports science. It felt like everything had fallen apart around her; her entire family had broken apart and she was kicked out of home. Her confidence had been hit, she felt like there was no hope and she was going to end up in at a dead end with no ambitions.

She joined our Prince’s Trust Team programme very reluctantly but began to find herself again with her new ‘team’. The first phase of the course at an Activity Centre allowed her to uncover skills that she thought she’d lost, rediscovering her leadership and communication abilities.

During the physical exercise part of the residential week, Jessica re-ignited her passion for sports and fitness, realising that this was still a career she would like to pursue and with the support from Inspire, there was an opportunity to follow this.

Jess was keen to complete her work placement at a local gym to start her sports career. She was nervous, but grabbed the opportunity and offered herself to work as much as she could to enable her to get the most out of her work experience as possible. The management was so impressed with Jess that they offered her a position as an Apprentice Gym Instructor. She accepted and started immediately, balancing work with finishing Team programme with Inspire. She gained her qualification in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills whilst starting her new fitness instructor qualification at the same time.

“By completing the Team programme, I really got my confidence back and developed my social skills.”

Since finishing Team programme, Jessica has remained employed at the gym and is now a fully qualified Gym Instructor (Level 2) as well as completing various other qualifications.

“I felt like an absolute failure before having dropped out of college and every relationship around me seemingly breaking down. Inspire really got me out of the slump that I was in. They had belief in me when I did not believe in myself.”

Jessica recognises the challenges and difficulties people can face and understands how easy it is for people to get stuck in a rut and feel down about themselves. She enjoys being able to provide motivation and belief to others that they can achieve, just like Inspire did for her.

“I was at the point of self-destruction; Team programme really did help me from going down the wrong path. It made me find the direction in life that I had lost!”

When college ended, Eugenie realised she didn’t know what to do next. Many of her classmates were heading off to university but this was something that had never appealed to her. Instead, she was keen to start a career but she had no idea where to start. This wasn’t the only challenge Eugenie was facing – the nation was in lockdown and many companies were making redundancies, much less taking on new staff, so she knew it would be an uphill battle.

When she received her A-Level results, Eugenie spoke to a career advisor at the college and was told about Inspire and the work they do with young people. They agreed that the courses be a good opportunity to help her build her CV, stand out from the competition, and show employers that she was keen to learn despite her lack of experience.

“Academically I did alright and came out with fairly good passes. I could have gone to university if I had wanted to, but I just knew it wasn’t for me. Because I had no employment history, I thought I have to start somewhere, so I chose to do some courses with Inspire.”

The first course she took was Step Up Apprenticeships where she reviewed her CV and practised her interview skills. At this point, coronavirus restrictions were easing, and she quickly realised she had missed interacting with people and learning new things. Eugenie was really glad to have a sense of direction and, during her 2 weeks on the course, came out of her shell and found that she felt a lot happier – she was moving forward again.

“A lot of it was working on employability and recognising what I was good at, which helped me. In the past I had put myself down a lot and didn’t see what I could do as terribly special. Doing the course helped me realise that I have strengths that are beneficial to an employer.”

At college, she’d always enjoyed Maths and Electronics, so her tutor recommended the Step Up Construction course as her next step. Almost immediately it ignited a passion in her and she was determined to start a career in the industry. Construction and Engineering was something that played to Eugenie’s strengths and, despite being one of the first women to take the course, she felt incredibly at home. She passed the course with flying colours, earning a CSCS card and qualifications in Health and Safety.

“I think it’s important to realise that whatever gender you are, you shouldn’t feel pushed into certain roles based on it. If you’ve got the skill for it, you’re a valuable asset and people will recognise it.”

With the help of skills she gained, Eugenie quickly secured a job with a local company as a trainee engineer, where she is now developing a system to monitor stock levels of components. Her employer explained that what she lacked in experience, she made up for in work ethic and by taking the steps to gain qualifications, she had shown initiative which helped her stand out from other candidates.

“Before I started I had absolutely no CV, especially not one I would be proud of anyway. To have learnt how to do it has helped me tremendously, it’s a very important thing to get right. When employers see I have a CSCS card, they see me as someone who is willing, is committed to that line of work and has potential. I’ve become more of a desirable candidate to companies as they don’t have to train me up.

After this, I may either go in to further training or my biggest hope is to land an apprenticeship. If it goes well where I work, I’d like to continue in this line of engineering, but I’m open-minded. I quite like the idea of nuclear engineering, so that’s a possibility”

For others who are thinking of taking the course, Eugenie has some words of advice…

If you struggle with confidence issues or finding a job, I would certainly recommend Inspire. I thought my CV would be completely hopeless, but the course showed me otherwise. If you’re feeling hopeless, it will show you that you can do it – if I can you can!

Ed Boggis takes part in our disability football programme Ability Counts at Inspire.

Like many young people, Ed Boggis had always enjoyed playing football with his friends; however taking part in training and matches wasn’t as straightforward for Ed as it was for his peers.

Having Down’s Syndrome meant that whilst he was a talented player, he was fighting a constant and exhausting battle in an attempt to keep up with his team-mates.

Thanks to Inspire’s disability football programme Ability Counts, Ed has the same football opportunities as mainstream players, regularly joining and competing against boys of a similar age and ability and captaining his team in regional competitions.

These sessions have given Ed the chance to take part in regular training and competitive matches. It has also improved his fitness, boosted his self-esteem, confidence and his overall well-being too.

Ed’s parents Phil and Alison have seen the positive impact the programme has had on their son and have even benefited from his involvement in the programme themselves. They told us:

“As parents, we have seen our son develop and mature during his time on the programme. Ed has gained a great deal from being involved in the project in that he has made new friends, learnt to be considerate of others as well as improving his fitness and of course his football skills and ability.”

“It has also given us the chance to meet and speak with other parents who have children with additional needs and their support has been invaluable.”

Before he met Inspire, Dean was struggling to integrate back into society after being on the wrong side of the law. He had moved to start fresh and was looking for something to do, however, he was at a low point with his confidence getting the better of him with being in a new place.

Dean met one of our Team Leaders Jacob who told him about our Prince’s Trust Team programme running in Stowmarket for 12 weeks, which would help to build his confidence, skills for work and give him lots of experience to allow him to progress onto a positive next step.

He was feeling a little unsure about the programme at the start but took on the outward bound residential trip, which happens in week 2. He was able to get away from his current situation focusing all of his energy on his time away. He had a chance to do activities that he had never done before including low ropes, canoeing, learning new skills and building team skills.

He was able to gain confidence through the various activities and took the role of a natural leader, always encouraging other team members to join in and checking how everyone was doing. Whilst on residential, Dean and his team had a visit from our charity Patron and Inspire 30 Club member Andy Perrin from Hemisphere Freight, where Andy shared stories of his life and journey with the team. He found Andy’s visit really inspirational and felt like he could connect to the stories Andy was telling.

Andy Perrin Managing Director of Hemisphere Freight said:

“From day one Dean came across as being courteous, polite and thoughtful and it was clear he wanted to gain the maximum benefit from the programme. I had no hesitation in offering him the opportunity of two weeks work experience.”

“Whilst he was more anxious than I expected, his honesty in communicating that he needed to take his time to ensure he got things right was refreshing! Over the two weeks, he not only grasped the opportunity but grew in confidence and successfully completed a course to gain his counterbalance forklift license. From my own observations and the positive feedback I received from my team, I offered Dean a full-time position and in the few months that he has been with us at Hemisphere Freight, he has proven to be reliable, hard-working and extremely conscientious.”

“We are very proud to have Dean working with us and representing us in such a professional manner and he in turn should be proud of his own achievements!”

Team programme has given Dean opportunities that he otherwise wouldn’t be able to access, including a work experience placement at Hemisphere Freight, which came from Andy Perrin’s visits to the programme. During his time on his work experience, he had the opportunity to complete his Forklift Training, which has been such a beneficial experience for him and some great experience to bring with him. Dean made such a good impression whilst completing his work placement that he has been offered a full-time job at Hemisphere Freight after finishing Team programme. He has now started his job at Hemisphere and is doing really well!

Daisy is 16 years old, the youngest in her group on the Prince’s Trust Team programme with Inspire. She is a very friendly and sweet young girl, who always has an open mind to matters. Daisy has a kind heart and always puts others before herself, however before the programme her self-esteem had diminished, and she found herself lost.

Daisy moved out of home earlier in the year having only just turned 16 because of tensions with her mother and difficulties in their relationship started to appear. She was struggling with her own mental health, feeling low and distracted after moving out and into her boyfriend’s family home. Her low motivation and poor mental health lead to her dropping out of school just months before she was due to sit her GCSE exams and although she was predicted good grades in her exams, Daisy left school with no qualifications and no aspirations.

She then made a rushed decision to apply for a Hair and Beauty course, which she wasn’t really interested in, but she went onto any course that would give her a place. She enjoyed the college environment, but the long bus journeys proved too difficult for her, causing huge anxieties about attending college and again triggering her poor mental health. Daisy, therefore, dropped out of college after only a couple of weeks and again found herself in a situation where she didn’t know what to do with herself and lacking even more confidence in herself and abilities.

Daisy met our Team Leader, Naomi, on the Friday before our Prince’s Trust Team programme was due to start on the Monday, which was a blessing as she didn’t have time to overthink the idea of the programme and let her anxieties put her off it. She was hesitant as to what to expect from it all but now believes that Inspire has really supported her by building her confidence which she says has “gone through the roof and rocketed”. Daisy has pushed herself every day to get to know her team members and her motivation has improved as the programme has given her a purpose and something to get up for every day.

In week nine of the programme, the group all looked at each other’s strengths and skills and the team members gave the following strengths to Daisy; friendly, open-minded, natural leader, positive attitude, focused and organised. This led to Daisy taking the Project Manager role for one of their community projects, which opened her eyes and gave her the confidence and belief in herself that she didn’t have before.

Daisy has been so pro-active on the programme after finding her new lease of confidence and secured herself a job at Pizza Express – she has already done 4 shifts in the role! She admits it is a challenge, especially when it becomes a very busy working environment, but she now has belief in herself that she can manage her anxieties and is determined to carry on working there.

Daisy has taken another huge step and applied to do her Maths and English qualifications in the New Year to achieve what she was unable to at school. Daisy is also keen to build up her hours at work, however she has learnt to take every day as it comes.

In June 2017, Lowestoft Team 19 embarked on their journey to complete a community project as part of their Prince’s Trust Team programme with Inspire. The team got to work researching many organisations and charities and schools who may have needed help to complete a project. Many of the team had not been tasked with such a research project since leaving school, which enabled them time to develop their IT and researching skills.

The team visited a number of local organisations to discover what projects were available for them to undertake. After a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages, the benefits the projects would have and a blind vote, the Team decided to take on a project at Pathways Care Farm who wanted to join two circular walks around the farm into one figure of 8 by creating a trail and steps, in order to create a new nature trail to walk their Alpacas.

All of the team members believed that this project was valued most by the community and supported people from all walks of life. It also supported those with obstacles close to the obstacles they or their families have faced themselves. The team thought about all the materials that would be required to create the pathway and soon realised that they would need to do lots of fundraising in order to complete the project. They did a Fancy Dress bake sale and tombola in Lowestoft Town Centre, where they donned costumes such as a tin of Spam, a Banana, Alice in Wonderland and Batman. The team rallied together and raised £117 for their materials.

Day One of the project came and the team started by having an initial tour of the farm site and a health and safety talk. They got to work clearing the pathway of overgrown weeds and general rubbish. After a morning of hard graft, enough material had been moved that a string line could now be placed to mark out the first part of the pathway.

The team continued to work for the next two days using spades and shovels to work at the bank and create the new pathway. First, the posts were put in place ready for the railway sleeper steps. Once the steps were created after a lot of hard work – as you can see in the pictures – it was time for the wheelbarrow relay to begin with the team transferring topsoil into the steps to fill them and then Type 1 gravel into each step and along the pathway to create the surface layer. The gravel was heavier and more difficult than the soil to move, but this didn’t stop the team! They worked together and got the job done to a high standard.

All of the Team members were given the opportunity to develop their skills using a variety of tools. This was extremely hard work in the summer sun and took a lot of determination and teamwork to complete the job.

The team even finished with enough time to have a BBQ with the clients at Pathways Care Farm. During the two weeks on the farm, the team learnt how beneficial the care farm is to the local community. Many of the team did not know what a Care Farm was before completing the project – you can find out more information here. One team member, Annabelle Morling, used the project to help her decide on her work experience and went on to complete work experience at a Care Farm in Toft Monks called Clinks Care Farm and used that opportunity to boost her own confidence to enable her to go back to full-time college upon completion of the Team programme with us.

As well as their Community Project, the students also take part in an outward bound residential activity trip, take part in work placements, engage with local companies and learn skills for work including CV building. On completion of the course, they achieve a nationally recognised certificate from the Prince’s Trust in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills. Find out more about the programme and where there is one near you here.

When we met Callum, he was in a bad way. He had dropped out of school where he was doing his A-Levels and started taking drugs. Eventually, he ended up in the hospital and realised he needed to make a change. Callum started Team programme and achieved his Level 2 qualification, but the residential trip was his turning point.

“Before Team Programme, I was off the rails. I was generally unmotivated, and a bit low. I smoked quite a lot of weed and didn’t do a lot else. I wasn’t working.

The residential trip helped me the most because it was an opportunity to talk to people. I knew a lot of people there already and I started to socialise a bit more. Before that, I spoke to my pals and that was it.

After the programme, I started work at Prezzos and got my bar job back. I chat to customers and I’m a hard worker. I’m also doing Forensics a Colchester Institute and have learnt to drive.

I want to say a special thanks to Sharon, my Team Leader, for all her help.”

We are incredibly proud of the bright future Callum has built for himself. He has transformed his life and, with the help of Inspire, has developed the confidence and life skills to build on his success. We look forward to seeing the path Callum takes and wish him all the best for the future.