Youth at Risk Lifeline


Youth at Risk

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For some teenagers, life can be really tough.

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No-one really liked me, and I had to be by myself where it was better...

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safer. Cos I was scared of other people.

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I struggled with self-esteem.

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My confidence was really low.

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I felt really lonely, left out and sad.

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I hear from a lot of young people who feel on their own in

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difficult or dangerous situations.

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Maybe they're being bullied

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or maybe they're being drawn into crime or maybe they've got,

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like, difficult home life,

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and their parents are suffering from drug or alcohol problems.

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And just imagine what that would do for your self-esteem,

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and what that would do to your beliefs in the chances of a happy future.

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Paige is 17, and is working hard at her summer job in

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a local theme park.

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There we go. The park closes at ten tonight, so you've got lots of time.

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But getting here hasn't been easy.

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When Paige was born, her mum was only 15,

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and she had her own issues to deal with.

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Home life was fraught with rows,

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and Paige was bullied at school for her skin colour.

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I got diagnosed with depression when I was 14.

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I was angry at the people that was hurting me.

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And no-one was listening to me.

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I started being antisocial and I kept on running away.

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And I got in with people that were drinking, that were older.

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And I stayed out quite late. Kind of getting in trouble.

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Things got really bad for Paige.

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She was bunking off school and even self-harmed.

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But then she heard about a charity that helps young people to

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find their way, no matter how far off-track they've travelled.

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The charity is called Youth At Risk, and what it does is put on

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these life-coaching courses for teenagers and for young adults.

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Youth At Risk asks them to identify what is that thing that's

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stopping them from getting what they want out of life.

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And what can be done to achieve it.

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Youth At Risk encourages teenagers to see themselves and their

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problems differently.

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Can you go back and change what happened to you, Jesse? No. No.

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What can you change? The future.

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This is one of the charity's tough five-day,

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intensive training courses.

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Paige also went on one of these.

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Hi, Paige. Hello. How are you? How you doing? I'm good, you?

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'I wanted to ask her how the course worked.'

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Well, the five-day intensive is very hard, cos, you know,

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you've got to be ready to change.

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You get paired with a coach and you have to work with them and

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try and get an understanding of how you feel about yourself.

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Who was your coach, and what did they do for you?

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My coach was called Dion, and I think she was, like,

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the first proper black woman that I properly met,

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and I think that was quite encouraging,

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because now I feel happy to be black. So, that's good.

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That's important, to like yourself. It is, very. Of course.

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And then what changed in your life outside of the course,

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once it was completed.

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Erm, I moved into foster care, so I left my family home,

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and that helped me kind of focus.

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My coach was quite on my case, getting me to finish my GCSEs.

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And I've got a lovely family now, and my bond with my mum is really

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growing, so I think that's quite a big thing for me.

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Paige's turnaround shows how much Youth At Risk can do.

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The young people on the charity's programmes increase their

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ambitions, refocus on their education, or start a job.

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At the end of the course, they sum up how they see themselves now.

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I am focused, responsible, and committed.

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Standing up for who I am, and who I'm yet to be.

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The next stage for the new graduates is six months of work with

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their life coaches, who'll help them stay on track.

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They're volunteers and come from all walks of life.

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It's a fantastic opportunity for somebody locally, within

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my community, who I can help transform their lives.

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I was very shy before I started, but now I'm more confident,

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and...it feels great.

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These amazing, brave teenagers turn to Youth At Risk when they are

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out of other options.

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And the charity challenges them to stop blaming other people for

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their problems, and just to take responsibility into their own hands.

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And this isn't always easy,

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but they really believe that the tough love approach is the

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way to handle things, because, at the end of the day,

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the only person that you can change is yourself.

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Youth At Risk has already helped nearly 20,000 young people

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across the UK since they started 24 years ago.

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Dave was one of their early recruits,

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back in the 1990s in South London.

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He is now 37 and lives in Cornwall with his partner and baby daughter.

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But the young Dave had some pretty big demons to fight.

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I'd been bullied early on in my life

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and I'd actually become what I hated most...which was a bully.

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My family had a reputation, where I come from,

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and, you know, I felt like I had to live up to it.

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Also, my mum at that time she was quite ill.

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Mental health problems and suicide attempts.

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So, growing up, that was quite difficult to deal with.

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Dave had a history of offending,

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but then saw a poster for a Youth At Risk course in the police station.

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I began, for the first time, speaking about my mum.

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There was a lot of tears. And a lot of anger, as well.

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It's about realising that I shouldn't blame myself.

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I've had bad things happen, but it's up to me how I deal with the future.

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Dave is now a Youth At Risk ambassador,

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giving talks and helping out on their courses across the country.

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Good girl. Stay still.

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'My life without Youth At Risk I think would have been

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'a lifetime of prison or I'd have probably been dead.'

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So, erm, yeah, Youth At Risk really did save my life.

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Youth At Risk does incredible work with young people who are

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living right on the edge.

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Teenagers who need a real positive way to deal with some really

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difficult situations.

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But none of this is cheap, and they need your help.

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Especially as they have some great stuff coming up.

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ALL: Cheese!

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Youth At Risk have just run a really successful pilot project here

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in Hackney, in London.

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You see so much bad news, so much negativity.

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These young people have bucked that trend.

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Each one of the 13 young people on the course

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has been inspired to change.

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Because of you lot, I have stepped to a different way in life,

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a different path.

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And I thank you for that. APPLAUSE

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With success like this, Youth At Risk can now roll out their

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programme of courses here, too.

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Their aim is to help another 300 kids like Paige and Dave.

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But it's going to take some serious funding.

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You can help more young people have a crack at being happy, safe,

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and strong enough to deal with the problems that life throws at them.

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A ?10 donation will cover the costs of

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a young person getting to and from a Youth At Risk course,

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and the charity don't want people to miss out on this opportunity

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simply because they can't afford to get there.

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A ?20 donation will cover the costs of a volunteer life coach,

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and help somebody get closer to achieving their goals.

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So, make a big difference to a young person's future

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by donating - right now.

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To give by phone, call...

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Calls are free from mobiles and landlines.

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Texts costs ?10 plus your standard network message charge,

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and the whole ?10 goes to Youth At Risk.

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For full terms and conditions, or to make a donation online,

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visit the Lifeline website at...

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Or if you'd like to post a donation,

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please make your cheque payable to Youth At Risk and send it to

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Freepost, BBC Lifeline Appeal, writing "Youth At Risk" on the

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back of the envelope.

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Thank you.

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