Miguel’s story: Don’t be shy to ask for help if you need it

Making a home with Centrepoint

Miguel, 20, first arrived in the UK during 2020 at the age of 15 as an unaccompanied minor and was placed into care, where he stayed until he was 18. As soon as he turned 18, his care home let him know that unfortunately he would no longer be able to live there and would need to move on to another accommodation. He didn’t know where to move to and so his local authority supported with his referral to Centrepoint, where he has been living for the last two years.

“I was in a house before which was for young people because I was in care, but after that when I turned 18, I came to Centrepoint. And since then, I’ve stayed here.”

When he first arrived, he was unsure of what to expect from his new home after living in a care home for the last couple of years. He thought that it might be similar to the private rented sector, where he might not know his neighbours, or it would feel like living with a landlord, but it’s been completely different to his expectations. 

Whilst living in his new home, he can see the support and guidance offered to each young person makes where he is now living the right place, as he looks to take those steps towards living independently. 

“At first, I wasn’t totally sure, I mean I wasn’t sure it was a place for me you know., I didn’t know what it was going to be, I thought maybe it was going to be like other private houses where you wouldn’t interact with your neighbours, or it might be like a landlord. But in here it’s quite different. It’s the right place for young people.”

“I’ve been living at Centrepoint for two years now and it’s been good – I haven’t had any problems. All the staff are good and they’re really supportive with me staying here.”

Getting the right support

When Miguel arrived at Centrepoint, he was paired with a key worker who’s there to support with any questions he might have, help him to develop new skills and be a source of guidance. Miguel and his key worker Shab have developed a close relationship whilst working together and during their sessions, when talking about the kind of advice and guidance he could benefit from and reflecting on his experiences, they discussed the possibility of Miguel working with a Centrepoint Psychotherapist. 

After making a referral to the team, Miguel has been working with Stephen for around two years and says he can feel that he’s made a lot of positive progress with how he has been feeling. 

They are working together in what are referred to as ‘episodes’ in psychotherapy, in which an episode consists of 24 regular sessions of therapy, where they communicate to understand how Miguel is feeling, where the areas he might benefit in support on and create strategies for him to implement in day-to-day life. After completing their first episode in 2024, they are now halfway through their second episode of dedicated support. 

This is a huge achievement for Miguel to continue with this kind of support, taking the time in between episodes to put in place any changes and see the impact of those, before returning and engaging again with the support to build on those changes and see what other strategies might be beneficial. 

Alongside working closely with his Psychotherapist, he was also referred to Centrepoint’s Jobs and Education team; to begin to identify any skills and areas he would like to develop to help him into the working world. He’s been working closely with both Asif and Sarah, jobs and education advisors, to look for potential avenues for his future career and take on different training opportunities.

“I did get on touch with one of the Psychotherapists from Centrepoint and also one of the job advisors, his name is Asif and he’s in employment. So, it has really helped to talk to him as well. He’s helped with future opportunities and with full-time jobs.”

“With the Psychotherapist, it’s been going alright. I think I’m making a lot of progress compared to how I was before. And Asif is really helpful as well.”

Miguel had an interest in working in customer service to begin with, looking for jobs in cleaning or catering where he can gain some experience to help him to reach his real passion, which is to become a chef. As someone who loves all cuisines, and going out for food with friends, he is excited about the possibility of this being something he could pursue in the future.

“For work, I would say it’s mostly in customer service side but also maybe in the long-term thinking I would say I would like to be a cook. So that’s kind of the goal for what I’m doing right now. But for the jobs at the moment, they would be related to cleaning or catering and things like that.”

He’s taking the time he needs to work out what he wants to do and the steps he needs to take to get there, making sure to gain valuable experience whenever he can to help him to reach his goals, whilst also taking the time he needs to make sure he feels good within himself.

“I’m working it all out right now – I’m just kind of getting experience for these jobs because if I want to get into that place, first I need some experience. That’s kind of my goal right now to get into those roles.”

Festive celebrations

During the festive season, the support staff at Miguel’s home put on lots of different activities to make sure that everyone got into the Christmas spirit and had the opportunity to enjoy themselves. Starting with the decorations, Miguel began to feel the change in his home, and it helped him to feel like Christmas had finally arrived. 

“They were decorating for Christmas and stuff like that which is always good. It’s not that big of a change but it just feels different. There were trees and it just kind of made me feel like it’s Christmas.”

Towards the middle of December, the support staff held a Christmas party for all the young people in the home. They watched Christmas films, listened to some music and enjoyed a festive feast, which one of the team made for everyone to enjoy together.

“I remember there was a Christmas party, and we had a dinner here which was really nice, and the food was very tasty. There was music and we watched some movies and there were lots of young people in there – there was festive music and things like that. There was turkey and some veggies and lots of treats like chocolate.”

During the party, every young person at the home was given a gift from their support team, as well as a voucher from the Card Factory Foundation to spend on something that they wanted that year. Miguel was grateful to get the voucher and spent it on some new shoes to start the year as well as a few small treats.

“We received some gift cards, and I received a perfume and some shower stuff which was great. I’ve already used my gift card to buy some new shoes and then I also spent some on Amazon to buy some stuff.”

For Miguel, having these moments of connection with the other young people he lives with the and the support staff, has been really important to him and made a huge difference to his Christmas.

“Christmas felt good because we were all kind of enjoying it as a group, with everybody and it was really nice.” 

Looking back on his experiences

After not knowing what to expect when he arrived, to now feeling settled and making valuable connections with other young people and teams around Centrepoint, Miguel took a moment to reflect on his time living at the supported home and what he has been able to do and experience. The mixture of being able to take part in different events and activities and gain experience in different roles and training opportunities has been an important part of his journey with Centrepoint.

The care, dedication and support from the team has surprised him, as he didn’t realise how invested they would be not only in helping him to develop skills, but in getting to know and support him on a personal level. He has been grateful for how much they take an interest in his life and ensuring that he gets the opportunity to take part in lots of different activities. He’s really enjoyed the number of trips they do together, getting to experience different things from going to the theatre to amusement parks.

“Here at Centrepoint it’s been really nice to be here. There are always new opportunities here for jobs or to spend time with other young people, which is nice for me. A few minutes ago, we were talking about going on a trip on Saturday and they were asking me if that would be of interest. So of course, I said yes, and it felt nice that and that we are kind of important to them as well. You know that they really care about us, especially enough to do this kind of stuff.”

“They usually do some trips during the winter months, for example, one of my favourite ones that I attended with them was to Winter Wonderland. We did ice skating and all the rides and all that. It was really fun, and I liked it.”

Miguel has also been grateful for the relationship he has developed with Shab whilst living with Centrepoint, knowing that he’s someone that he can always reach out to if he has any worries or needs some support with something in particular, such as applications.

“I’ve been working with Shab and he’s really nice. He’s always helping me and whenever I’m doing things, for example, he always asks a few days later how stuff was. He’s very supportive.”

“He’s helped me a lot. Maybe when I was first here, in those first months and everything from then on, he’s always been helping me, for example filling out applications or with a driving licence and things like that. He’s always been there helping me.”

When looking back at his own journey and what he has learnt along the way, Miguel knows what some young people might find it hard to speak with staff to get the support they need, or they might not even know that there is help and advice open to them. His advice for any young people who are currently living in supported homes, is to always speak up and ask for help if you need it.

“I would say to always ask the staff. I mean what I’m trying to say is that sometimes the young people don’t ask staff things because they might be a bit shy and they don’t know if it’s ok to ask staff or they don’t feel ok about something, they could ask and they could get health support or a Psychotherapist and stuff like that. They are there to help, so don’t be shy to ask for help if you need it.”

He's now preparing to move into his own flat, and taking all of the steps he needs to feel confident in living independently. We are so proud of the progress and steps that Miguel has taken to get the support he needs to reach his future goals and can’t wait to hear all about his dream of becoming a chef.