Amy’s story: Make the most of any opportunities you get

Finding Centrepoint

Amy, 19, is currently working in her local council in a respite service, where he has been managing the financial and medication auditing for around 6 months. Having recently moved into another supported home, she’s been reflecting on the different touchpoints in her journey to reach where she is now. 

As a teenager, Amy experienced some challenges in the relationship with her mum, as well as with the area she was living, that meant it was no longer a safe place for her to stay. She went to her local council to explain her situation, and as she was a minor, social services became involved making the referral for her to come to a Centrepoint supported home. 

“When I was around 16 or 17, I had problems with my mum, and I had problems in the area that I grew up in and it was just a bit domestic. And then I presented myself as homeless to the council and then social services took on the case and they moved me to Centrepoint.”

Educational support

After not enjoying school and leaving without completing her GCSEs, she began working with Zac, a Centrepoint trainer, to help boost her skills around maths and support her with feeling more confident in being able to channel her attention into one thing at a time.

“I’ve mostly worked with Zac and he’s amazing at what he does. I was never one to be good at school and I never did my GCSEs or anything and Zac really helped me, and it helped me to feel a lot more confident.”

She really valued that working with Zac felt like a collaboration, rather than being told what to do and how to do it. They came up with ways of working together which suited Amy and her learning style and meant that she could take it at the pace she wanted.

“Zac helped me around maths because I struggle doing things and staying on topic. So, he would always give me extra time to complete a task or have regular breaks every so often to be able to complete it further. It was really good the way that it was set.” 

She also really appreciated in Zac’s teaching style that he made sure everyone had their own agency on how they approached the lesson – they all had the time and space to learn, and it was theirs to do what they wanted. This made the sessions feels more valuable, and each lesson she made sure to lock in and make the most of it, because she might not have something like this in the future.

“It wasn’t like when you were at school and getting told off. It was like, if you want to sort your life out and get everything on track, then you’ve got the opportunity – don’t waste it if you’re here at Centrepoint, because you’re not going to get this when you’re older.”

She’s praised Zac for his ability to make even the trickiest of classes fun and engaging – never having met a maths teacher quite like him before!

“Nobody enjoys doing maths, but he made it fun, and I’ve never met a maths teacher who was able to do that!”

Careers advice and employment

Alongside working with Zac to boost her maths skills, she also began working with Asif, a jobs and education worker, to find out what direction she might like to take with her career. They started off working out what she enjoyed, as well as didn’t enjoy, which helped to narrow the potential options in front of her.

“Asif really helped me with getting into employment and finding out what I liked doing. He helped me with building my confidence and always supporting me with applications or any opportunities that were coming up.”

She remembers on one occasion that Asif found a potential role that Amy might be suitable for and invited the employer to her supported home to speak with her and share a bit more about what the opportunity might include. 

After meeting with the employer and talking a bit about what she was interested in and how her experience suited the role, they offered her the position, and she has been working in for the same organisation for a year and a half now. Reflecting on how she found the role and having a team around her to boost her confidence, gave her the space she needed to take a step into her next chapter.

“He invited an employer to my supported home to come in and talk to me. He helped me with my CV, and he told me to go for the job. I thought I had no chance of getting it, not a chance, but he really helped me around that. I was really pleased to find the opportunity as well – he presented the opportunity to me. I wouldn’t have been able to get the job without all of the people that I met along the way.”

When she moved into her new role, to recognise and celebrate her achievements, the CP Works team offered Amy the possibility to be supported through the incentive scheme. This scheme rewards young people with financial bonuses if they can stay in the role to, reaching particular milestones – 1 month, 3 month, 6 months and a year. After staying in her role for over a year now, Amy has seen the benefits not only from the financial support, but also the holistic advice and guidance as she moved from being a minor to an adult and into the working world.

“They offered me an incentive from starting at one-month of employment or training and then it goes up and up for different points. I think a year is the highest and I’ve just gotten that because I’ve been in employment for a year. Someone called me to do a survey, and they said that there was an incentive scheme, and they told me all about it.” 

“They said it was an incentive to get younger people into employment or training – without all of the support that Centrepoint helped me with, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’m happy that I had that support and met the right people on my journey.”

Moving on

After living in her supported home for just over a year, she moved out and into another housing provider, where she has been settling in nicely alongside working her new job. When she was getting ready to move on, her and her key worker applied for the Move On Bursary to help her get into her new space and make it feel her own.

She used the additional funding to get some items that could help to personalise her space including soft furnishings, a mirror, and a few homely touches. 

“I got bed sheets, stuff for my room, a mirror and just little bits for around the house, tea towels, towels, a bathmat and things that just make a difference.”

Now that she’s in her new space, she’s been reflecting on the support that she received from Centrepoint and the positive impact it had for her as she took steps forward and began the next stage of her life. 

Having her key workers around her when she moved in and able to help her to complete her LifeWise courses, meant she could feel the progress she was making as she was moving towards independence. LifeWise courses are AQA accredited units which cover a range of topics including managing finances, self-care and food safety to help young people to feel more confident in their independent living skills, which they can take with them when they move on.

“There’s people there like Danny who worked in my supported home who was the manager and Vicky who really helped me as a key worker when it came to things like my AQAs and things like that.” 

From having a team on hand she could always speak to if she needed, to accessing funding to buy some personalised items for her home to getting advice and guidance as she stepped into employment, the holistic support meant that she felt ready when she took on this new stage in her development.

“Centrepoint has done so much to really help me, even with little things like giving us vouchers when we set up our rooms or with the employment meetings that they do where they get loads of employers – any event I’ve been to, it’s been good.”

“The people at Centrepoint they’re just good, and they’re good at working with people and if you need support, there was always somebody I could talk to.”

Thinking to the future

After moving into her role at the local council, she is currently in an apprenticeship in a social care role, where she has bene for around six months. 

“I’m on an apprenticeship with the local council in provider services. I work in adult social care in a respite service, and I support the people living there. I do things like the financial and medication auditing – there’s probably a few more things I do as well!”

She’s really enjoyed her position and what she’s been able to learn through the opportunity and is now in a place where she is ready to progress and move into another role. Having her foot in the door and knowing that she’s on the right track, has helped her to feel like she has a world of possibilities ahead of her.

“I do enjoy it – I want to progress a little bit, but it’s definitely got my foot in the right door and given me that opportunity that I might not have had elsewhere.”

And having options open to her is vital, as she is interested in all avenues that come her way, wanting to try her hand at everything she can so she can find something that works for her and what she wants from life.

“One day, I want to be a paramedic and the next day, I want to work in a bank. I’m just willing to put my foot in every single door to get where I want to be and find out what I like and enjoy doing.”

One area that she knows she is interested in pursuing, and based on her own lived experience, is working with those who have experienced homelessness. However, she recognises that as she is still young, and has time to develop independently, that she might not be quite in the right place to step into this role. 

“I do enjoy working with adults, but I would prefer to work with kids or do something similar to what Centrepoint does because it’s rewarding and I’ve got the lived experience for the job. But right now, it probably wouldn’t be the best because I’m still quite young myself and I would need to be more mature for those sorts of roles.”

When thinking about her future, and what has guided her to that point, she urges other young people to feel confident in taking these steps, even if it feels scary. She knows that when many young people first start work there can be a drop in their benefits, which can put people off pursuing their career goals, but to know that there is always help if they need it and that it is worth it in the end.

“Don’t be scared about getting into employment or training because it’s going to affect their benefits or their housing or just scared because they’ve heard about other people going into employment and they lose a lot of things. There is always help along the way if that makes sense.”

Through this transitionary period in her life, she was supported at each step by her key worker, who could help her apply for any additional financial aid, if it was needed. Not feeling on her own to navigate some of these often complicated and isolating steps, gave her the foundation she needed as she entered adulthood and mean she has the skills she needs to thrive independently.

“It can be scary, but at Centrepoint, I always got that support, whether it was through my key worker helping me to apply for a discretionary housing payment, the bursaries and just in general help – there was always that support around. I wasn’t ever truly on my own, even if it was a bit scary because when you turn 18, you’re hit with the real world. But they always have good advice on what to do and what steps to take.”

Her resounding advice is to grab every opportunity that comes your way, because you never know what it might be and where it might take you.

“Make the most of any opportunities you get because you might not be able to get them in the future.”

Amy’s positive attitude and drive to succeed in everything she does, shines through in her hard work and dedication to reaching her goals. We wish her all the best as she continues her forward trajectory and can’t wait to see what she achieves next.