It took years for Paige Parker to find help. Life had been difficult growing up in the tiny Cotswold town of Winchcombe, says the 22-year-old: her father left when she was young, and her mother endured several abusive relationships, which took their toll on both of them. Parker struggled at school, fell in with the wrong crowd and found herself heavily dependent on drugs and alcohol.
“I was totally lost and unmotivated. My life wasn’t heading in a good direction,” she says. Seeking help wasn’t easy either. “I always found it very difficult to trust people and open up. But Young Gloucestershire was different. I felt welcome. I didn’t feel judged.”
Parker has been working with Young Gloucestershire for just under two years. The organisation works with 11- to 25-year-olds faced with challenging circumstances, such as disruptive home lives or coping with mental health issues, offering a range of services aimed at helping young people build confidence and develop the skills they need to move into work, education or training. They’ve provided Parker with access to counselling, helped her get back into studying and even introduced her to the sweaty thrill of boxercise classes.
But Covid-19 has made things much more difficult. The sports classes have been cancelled and most of their work together is now carried out by text or video call. It’s been tough, but Parker believes everything she’s learned at Young Gloucestershire has helped her to stay positive.
One of the most important tools in dealing with the impact of the pandemic is resilience. The Mental Health Foundation says a key factor in developing resilience is positive experiences in early childhood and a secure relationship with at least one primary caregiver. “Unfortunately, a lot of the young people we work with haven’t had that,” says Young Gloucestershire’s operations manager Alicia Wynn.
A significant number of these young people come from low-income families; Gloucestershire is home to 12 neighbourhoods that rank in the top 10% of the UK’s most deprived areas. Growing up in poverty can often lead to poor mental health and low levels of academic achievement. According to the Education Policy Institute, the most persistently disadvantaged pupils are almost two years behind their peers by the time they finish their GCSEs.
This can make it hard to find work after leaving school, which can subsequently lead to a cycle of financial struggle and unhealthy coping mechanisms such as drugs and alcohol. That’s where resilience comes in. Wynn and her colleagues look to generate motivation among the young people they work with. “It’s about not staying stagnant,” she says. “Resilience comes from experiencing new things, learning, testing yourself and coming out the other side.”
An effective way of doing this is to create more ways to spend time in areas of interest. Young Gloucestershire helps people to find a job that might interest them, setting up work experience or arranging a volunteering position. The pandemic has made this harder, but the financial support provided by the Barclays Covid-19 Community Aid Package is helping the organisation expand its services.
“We know there’s a huge need for crisis support in rural areas,” says Wynn. “This will give us the extra resources we need to reach hundreds of youngsters outside urban centres. A big part of this is getting them active, which can improve mental health. It’s an important factor in young people being able to search for, or hold on to, work.”
The effects of the pandemic are being felt by people of all ages. The government’s spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, says unemployment rates could remain well above pre-crisis levels until 2024-2025. At Stoke-on-Trent’s Money Matters centre, which offers free debt advice, manager Mary-Anne Rapson says her workload has gone up since the start of the pandemic.
“We’re seeing more people who are suffering because of redundancy,” says Rapson. “For some, this is a further blow they can ill afford – financially and mentally. For others, it’s a totally new experience. They’ve never been on benefits before and they haven’t the first idea where to go or what they’re entitled to.”
Money Matters is part of Saltbox, a charity that aims to strengthen Stoke’s marginalised communities and people in a city that now has the 12th-highest proportion of deprived neighbourhoods in England. The Barclays funding will enable Money Matters to employ two new staff members to help Rapson in what can be time-consuming work: for a lot of people, she has to analyse bills, payslips and spending habits to help them better understand their finances and budget for the future, as well as provide assistance in clearing debts and accessing benefits.
“I see everyone from elderly widows to young families struggling to make ends meet,” explains Rapson. “Sometimes the financial problems are triggered by a specific event like a spouse passing away or unemployment; others take out loan after loan, unaware of the debt that’s piling up.”
This is indicative of a wider problem across the country. Out of 37 OECD countries, the UK ranks well below average in adult financial literacy. A lack of financial education at school seems to be a significant cause. In 2019, the London Institute of Banking and Finance’s Young Person’s Money Index found that 86% of young people in the UK get most of their financial understanding from parents or learning online rather than school.
“It’s no wonder that kids growing up in difficult circumstances struggle with money,” says Wynn. “Some of our youngsters can’t even read a bank statement. They have absolutely no idea how to manage money because they’ve never had any support in this area.”
A variety of circumstances lead to people needing to be equipped for new opportunities. Saltbox’s Restart programme helps more than 100 men and women in Stoke-on-Trent, including repeat offenders, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, supporting them with mentoring, training and resources. “The independent-living skills and housing, not to mention the kindness we provide, might be the only way they’re getting out of that vicious cycle,” says Saltbox chief executive Lloyd Cooke.
One group of ex-offenders has been doing some painting and decorating at a local church, while others are learning how to carry out repairs at the housing Restart provides. “With work like this, the hard skills are important, no question,” says Cooke. “But we’re also teaching them the value of a positive daily routine and the importance of contributing to society. They might not get a diploma for it, but the sense of self-worth it brings, that you can do a good job that people will appreciate – that’s absolutely vital.” And it works: while the national reoffending rate among the category of people Saltbox works with is around 60%, Cooke says last year “our reoffending rate was around 10%”.
For organisations such as Saltbox and Young Gloucestershire, the ultimate aim is to equip people with the skills they need to not only manage their own lives, but also to benefit the wider community. Wynn says a number of people she has worked with find roles that enable them to help other people. She recalls one girl, who came to them with crippling anxiety after a traumatic childhood that had caused her to miss a lot of schooling. “We helped her to finish college and get a Saturday job. Eventually she went to university, but she’d always come back and see us in the holidays. Now she’s working full-time as a teaching assistant, living independently and really thriving.”
Parker is hoping to take a similar path. With the help of Young Gloucestershire, she’s studying again and her long-term goal is to work in mental health so that she can help others. “I’ve seen first-hand what kind of impact it can have,” she says. “And I’ve learned there’s always someone out there to help. I know now not to give up: the future’s as bright as you make it.”
To support these charities, get in touch with youngglos.org.uk or saltbox.org.uk
Inspired by what you’ve read?
In these uncertain times, charities across the UK could use your support more than ever. If you’d like to find out how to volunteer and give your time to help others,
visit: gov.uk/government/get-involved/take-part/volunteer. To find out more about how Barclays is supporting communities, visit: home.barclays/communityaidpackage
