Updated: 01/09/2022
Who doesn’t love a good news story and seeing our young people shine?! 🥰
Leah began working with Barnardo’s at the end of 2019. She was struggling with her anxiety and lacked a lot of confidence and self-belief. Leah and I started to build a good relationship and I started to notice a positive change in her confidence. Then by March 2020 we were in lockdown.
Leah and I started to work virtually carrying out weekly sessions via zoom covering a variety of topics looking at building her confidence and working on her employability skills. Leah had applied for college and had been given a place on the waiting list, so this was good to have in place, but we did not know if a place would come up for college so continued to do some work looking for jobs too.
During this time, we applied for different jobs but often did not hear back. Leah continued to persevere with job searching and applications and her confidence continued to grow and grow. We completed lots interview prep, and I really believed Leah was ready to go and smash it! In August 2020, Leah attended an interview for Balgillo Nursery via zoom, which she felt had gone well.
Leah received a phone call the next day to be told she had been successful and that she had secured a Modern Apprenticeship!! All her hard work had paid off and I was so proud of how far she had come!
I have kept in touch with Leah since this time and she has gone from strength to strength. The feedback from the employer has always been excellent and Leah really is an asset to their team! Leah has just finished her qualification and is just totally thriving! I am so proud of her and all she has achieved!
Leah said – “My time with Barnardo’s helped me so much with building my confidence. I feel being given the support I was given helped me to change my point of view and gave me the drive to believe I could achieve the things I has always wanted too. With Sarah’s friendly and encouraging support behind me I felt I could search and find the right path for me and I knew she was with me every step of the way believing in me. I am very thankful for the support I was given as I don’t think I would be where I am today without it. Thank you so much to Sarah and Barnardo’s for everything! “