I was originally a SW!TCH mentee, then a SW!TCH Ambassador, and now I actually work at LifeLine.
I was at school and attended a LifeLine workshop on knife crime and I thought it was great. Then, about a year later, there was another workshop where I met Diana from LifeLine and we got on straight away. We talked quite a bit; we really connected because we’re quite similar. Talking with her, I felt more understood than in any classes at school. Shortly after that, she started mentoring me.
I guess, at first, I was venting to her. But she listened and made it comfortable. The first challenge of being a mentor is to gain the trust of the young person, to get them to speak. You can’t force a connection; just introduce yourself, say the truth, speak from your heart. You can’t push a relationship. They just have to know you’re there, whether on social media, by texting, or just chatting during activities.
A bit later on, I became a SW!TCH Ambassador, which I stayed as for over two years. I first heard about the Junior Youth Development Worker role via the Whatsapp group for the young people. It sounded like an extension of what I was already doing as an Ambassador—I knew I could do it. It’s now coming up to four months since I started my role.
In my family, it’s just me, my mum, my sister, and loads of cousins. I grew up in Grays in Essex then, from year 8, my family moved to Dagenham. We moved for the safety of the family, on the recommendation of a key worker. I didn’t mind moving as there were very few other people of colour where I grew up, but now suddenly I was one of the crowd and I could blend in easier. I’ve always been quite outgoing, so it was easy to make new friends. There were times when my friendships became quite problematic. Some of my friends and peers were targeted by gang members and, in school, there was also a certain degree of rape culture that no one spoke about. That may be due to sexism but also to with the age of the people making the allegations.
With all I’ve seen, I hope to offer young girls and boys the support to not go down the wrong path. But you can’t be helped if you don’t want to be helped. SW!TCH, and Lifeline as a whole, helped me grow into a person that can help others while also helping myself.