Specialist Courses Success Stories

Danielle and Paige

Danielle (18) and Paige (17) have been accessing the programme since April 2008. Both came to the programme knowing very little about parenting. They have since become the programme’s ‘breastfeeding champions.’

When interviewed for the course, neither Danielle or Paige wanted to breastfeed but, through attendance at the health-related workshops and completion of the YMTB Skills for Life Competence, the mums were able to explore the advantages and disadvantages of breastfeeding, and have totally changed their views.

The young mums get weekly support from health visitors and midwives and breastfeeding workshops are held regularly. Danielle attended these workshops and her concerns and insecurities with it were addressed. Danielle is successfully breastfeeding her daughter Ellie and is keen to keep it up.

When Paige gave birth to Declan she asked if she could try breastfeeding him. Paige said: “He took to it really well. It felt so natural and we were so close that I can’t believe more people don’t breastfeed”.

Paige and Declan, and Danielle and Ellie are real-life breastfeeding advocates who are leading workshops within the programme to promote it to other pregnant mums.

Christy’s story

At 16 years old, Christy was thrown out of home because of her rebellious behaviour and was homeless for two weeks before Doncaster Foyer were able to help and offer her a room with key worker support.

Christy found out she was pregnant at 17 and was initially both devastated and disappointed – her pregnancy meant that she was unable to stay at the Foyer, which had been a part of her life for two years and felt like home to her.

Connexions told Christy about the Young Parents Programme at YMCA Training and, although she wasn’t initially keen on the idea as she had always hated school, she was persuaded to start the programme.

Since starting the programme in April this year, Christy has achieved a level 1 Young Mums to Be Skills for Life Competence as well as a level 2 Food Safety in Catering. She is currently working towards a level 2 Parents with Prospects qualification and an introduction to sign language course.

Christy is aIso a spokesperson at the PCT consultations – she is particularly proud of this as she never thought that health professionals would listen to her thoughts, ideas and experiences.

Talking about her training experience, Christy said: " If it wasn’t for the support and help of YMCA Training I don’t know where I’d be. They are always there for you no matter how big or small the problem is. They really do make a difference to all of us on the programme.
My family are now really supportive and my mum tells me that I’ve matured a lot over the last six months. I really do feel like my life has turned around and feel as though I have really made a difference to my life, the lives of others and more importantly the life of my son.

My future looks good - I plan on going to college in September 2009 to do a health and social care qualification and my partner and I are looking for somewhere to live so we can be a family together."

Future Plans

Lisa has attended the Young Mums To Be course at our Bristol centre over a period of 3 months and as a result, is now extremely confident about her options for the future and plans to apply for a childcare course at Bristol City College. During her time at Young Mums To Be, Lisa has gained confidence and developed her communication skills. Her Training Adviser Dannie Curtis observed "I have seen her confidence grow from a young woman who would not participate in group discussions, to a young woman who now not only openly discusses issues, but also encourages others to participate." 

Vicky's Story

Vicky is an active member of the Young Mums To Be group at Bristol and is extremely outgoing and eager to assist others. Vicky never enjoyed written work, but during her time at Young Mums To Be, her writing skills have improved significantly. Her Training Adviser Dannie commented that "Vicky has produced a fantastic baby book for her unborn child and took great care and effort throughout this task. I have seen Vicky mature over the past few months and it has been a pleasure to see the high quality of work she is able to produce through the support of the course."

How One Man Found his Feet

James* left school not knowing what training or employment he would like to enter and with no qualifications. He had an unstable home life and was looking to move to independent accommodation when he joined the Mural Design course, part of the CANVAS project at our Leeds centre.

Right from the outset, James had an excellent record of attendance and timekeeping, often arriving half an hour before CANVAS opened and on days when he was not time-tabled to attend. Over the duration of the course, James found housing in a hostel for young people and began looking for permanent accommodation through the council.

While at CANVAS, James developed excellent drawing skills and completed wider Key Skills: Improving Own Learning and Performance Level 1. He also acquired a keen interest in music production and attended a part-time course alongside his days at CANVAS. After completing the CANVAS course, he progressed to the e2e programme and is still in training at Lifeskills Learning Music Production and Graphic Design. He has now found permanent housing and is applying to further education colleges to start a course in September.

*Name has been changed

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