Stephen is presently one of our most dedicated and long-standing adult volunteers. We sat down earlier this year to talk about his journey with FOCUS – from young beneficiary to volunteer today supporting other young people.
“Before coming to FOCUS I hadn’t left the house. I struggled in college and school with bullying. I couldn’t cope with it, so I stopped going and didn’t leave the house for a whole year. So, I joined FOCUS because a Leicester City Council Enablement worker called Jo told me about it. Minder [former Inspire Assistant Manager] came to my house to let me know more about what FOCUS did, and she convinced me to join. Jo had to help me get the bus [to my first session] because I was too scared. Once I came a few times to sessions I finally was able to use the bus on my own.
“While I did have some mental health counselling like CBT, I didn’t really overcome it until I joined FOCUS. It helped me by being able to talk to them, and being able to do different activities which were fun. We were gardening on our Roots ‘n’ Shoots project. As we did gardening, I was able to talk about that problem and that helped. My confidence built up through teamwork activities. Volunteers then made me feel safe and I was able to talk about my issues with them and they listened.”
Stephen has been a trained and active volunteer since 2023. We asked him about that experience and if it assisted his personal development:
“It has given me the opportunity to lead my own group. Recently, when we did some filming about King Richard, I managed the group around Leicester in making the video. I never felt I was able to do that before, but now I realise I have this sort of thing in me. The people at FOCUS are like a family that gives you confidence. I hope to find work this year and my experience from volunteering should help me achieve that.”
“If you haven’t already, you should try to talk to your parents about it or talk to someone at school. You have got to try and find some self-belief. Try to write down some personal goals. Break it down into small sections and talk to people who can support you, like I found here at FOCUS.”