The Morning Star sails out of Chatham Docks
Participants in the Wilderness Foundation UK’s intervention programme for vulnerable youth – The TurnAround Project – have this week literally started to chart a new course.
A group of six participants, together with Wilderness Foundation UK CEO Jo Roberts, volunteers Roy Perry and Paul Morris and a University of Essex Researcher, Jo Barton all stepped on board the Morning Star on Tuesday (6th October 2009) and will spend the next five days serving as crew aboard the 62ft gaff ketch yacht operated by the Morning Star Trust.
This is the second “Wilderness Trail” that this group are under-taking and marks a major landmark in the participant’s progress through the 12 month long programme that each of them signed up for, after hearing about TurnAround through their school, family, Connexions or YOT working in Essex. The group will be challenged to work together as a team, supporting one another and discovering strength and skills they might never have imagined they had. They will also being applying their learning over the past months from mentoring and activity days organised by the Wilderness Foundation UK – which has helped the participants to gain confidence, improve their self-esteem and find ways of managing anger so that they can remove themselves from potentially volatile and occasionally violent situations.
Edward Charles, Project Manager of TurnAround says:
The participants share a variety of social and personal problems. Several have had lives that already include drug and alcohol abuse, dropping out from school, family breakdown, youth offending orders, low confidence and poor self esteem.
What unites them is the fact that they have all signed and agreed contracts to work towards learning how to take on personal responsibility, and are committed to the programme, and want to work as a group towards personal change.
On return from sailing the TurnAround participants will enter the final phase of the programme – Graduation. Participants, families, mentors, supporters and youth workers all come together in a day of celebration, which recognises the hurdles overcome and the achievements made.
Eddie explains:
For many of our participants, this will include the award of various forms of certificated accreditation that has been earned during the course of the programme, including but not limited to: Trident Skills for Life Certificates; Trident Community Involvement Certificate; The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Certificate of Prior Learning (Skills and Physical Recreation Sections); the Essex Arts Award and the Essex Youth Award.
To find out more about the TurnAround Project, including how you or your organisation can become directly involved in supporting this important initiative working with vulnerable youth – either financially or through the contribution of services in kind or time volunteering, please contact Eddie or Jo on 01245 443073 or click here to send us an email
To make a donation in support of TurnAround please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/turnaround-appeal/
Thank you for your support.