Bart’s Journey: Building Confidence and Independence with YG Mentoring

“When I was quite young, I moved from Poland to England. We moved house quite a lot so I’ve been to lots of different schools. In some of those schools, I got bullied. At the time, I didn’t realise that I was autistic or anything, but I knew I was different and I got made fun of for that. I just didn’t fit in. Most people already knew how to socially behave when I didn’t.

“A few months before Christmas I joined YG. I originally came to YG because I wanted to learn new skills and make friends. I had recently been diagnosed with ADHD and autism and wanted help with this.

“Working with Paul, my mentor, I’ve learnt to be more independent. I’ve learnt how to be more sociable, responding to people and communicating with them. It helped me communicate a little bit easier with people at college. I’ve been able to find friends with similar interests like computer science and general science. My mentor even helped me to do things like start cooking more. It’s been really fun, we’ve baked bread and cakes, and this has allowed me to take more control of what I do. It has helped me build up confidence in stressful situations.

“Before I didn’t really have a plan, I was quite unorganised. YG has helped me to become a lot more organised. I was actually able to make my own timetable during my free time and it sticks as a reminder to help organise myself. My room has also been a lot cleaner than it used to be! Everything is a lot better. Now my plan is to do my A levels and then start looking for some apprenticeships.

“I would definitely recommend YG and mentoring; it’s a great opportunity to meet new people and it’s really nice to make new friends and have somebody to chat to. The people there generally want to support you, take care of you and help you as a person.”