Joanna, 15

School was crap. The teachers just did my head in. I used to skip it and I was only going about three days a week. I didn’t do much when I wasn’t at school - I would just go and see my friends and hang around.

I heard about Fairbridge through my Welfare Officer and she told me it would be best for me. I thought it was a good idea because I didn’t really want to go to school any more and I thought I’d try it out.

When I came here I wasn’t really nervous because the staff were really nice and helped me a lot. They always cheer you up. They take you out and let you do all kinds of different outdoor and indoor courses.

When I first started I did my Access – I did loads of stuff like caving and gorge walking. Now I’ve been coming to Fairbirdge for a year. I’ve done a load of different things. One of them was something called bleeping babies where I took a fake baby home and had to look after it... it cried and cried, it was really hard work.

While I’ve been here I’ve been trying to control my temper and I’ve done loads of courses. I got an ASDAN silver award and I’m going towards my gold. They are the first qualifications that I've ever got.

I come here about three days a week. I like it because they treat you like an adult. It has helped me be more confident and I’ve met lots of new people.

I don’t think I want to go back to school but Fairbridge are supporting me get the skills I need to get a job. I want to earn a wage and get on with my life. I've grown up a lot.

Paul, 19

I grew up in a very abusive home under the iron fist of my step dad. I was depressed and self-harming. I ran away from home on my 17^th birthday and it meant that I had to drop out of college. I ended up in a bed and breakfast for nine months, and I’m now living in the YMCA.

I had heard about Fairbridge from my friends but I had never been. Then one of my support workers mentioned it, and as I was just living off benefits and wasn’t doing anything with my life, I came down and did the Access.

It was great. I met a completely different group of people - all different characters. Some of them were loud, some were quiet but the staff worked hard to bring everyone into a group. I loved coming back after the course. It gave me something to look forward to - a bit of a normal life.

I like being here. Everyone has a smile on their face and I don’t have to worry about what people say. It’s relaxed and you can do what you want to do when you want to do it. But you can't just do nothing - there are rules and you have to follow them.

I have an issue with trust and I feel like I’ve always asked for help but I never got it. But here the staff do help. They let you get comfortable and have worked hard to gain my trust.

At home I wasn’t aloud to be myself but since then I have spread my wings. I’ve done loads of things here. I’ve been making music using the recording studio. I’ve also been climbing a lot. I had never done it before I came to Fairbridge but now I have a qualification. I’m also trying to overcome my fear of deep water to get my kayaking qualification.

Fairbridge has helped me grow up and keeps me going. I have been looking at negative things and trying to turn them into positive.

My short tem goal is to get a job, and then in the longer term I want to do my GCSEs and A levels and eventually work in prosthetics. I don’t see the point in sitting around doing nothing. I used to only half do things. Now I try and do everything properly.