Hannah’s Story – YES Project

Before joining the YES Project, 19-year old Hannah* had just successfully completed a traineeship at a leading course provider, but was looking for something to do next.

It was at Connexions that Hannah heard about the YES Project, specifically about one of the delivery partners offering a media course to participants.

Hannah felt that, although she’d recently completed a course, she wanted to build on her confidence and employability skills further, and felt that the YES Project was the ideal project to support her.

Once Hannah had been signed up to the project, she was able to access the support of many of the delivery partners, including the media course she was interested in at the beginning. Here, participants are given the chance to learn video filming and editing techniques, before working on a project to showcase their skills.

Hannah then accessed the mentoring provision available from Soft Touch Arts. This service is incredibly beneficial to participants, as each participant is paired with a mentor who is able to support them with numerous things, including outlining career goals and aspirations.

Hannah also accessed the specialist support available from The Bridge. This particular delivery partner is able to offer intensive support to each participant, but in Hannah’s case, they were able to support her with an important online application.

Whilst on the project, Hannah also accessed the support of other delivery partners, including The Prince’s Trust, Leicestershire Cares and the Youth Leadership Group (YLG). Each of these delivery partners offers something unique and different, but all geared towards employability. The Prince’s Trust offers both their ‘Get Into’ and ‘Get Started’ programmes, which give participants the chance to take up work experience or take part in new activities. Leicestershire Cares offers a variety of services, including World of Work tours, CV support and employability workshops. The YLG was beneficial to Hannah, as it gave her a chance to improve her leadership skills, as well as interact with other individuals and help shape the YES Project.

Accessing the variety of courses available on the YES Project helped Hannah improve her confidence, make new friends and also helped her feel like part of a community. Leaving the project with this new found outlook will help Hannah as she works towards her goal of finding employment.

After finishing on the YES Project, Hannah said:

“Being on the YES Project has allowed me to overcome things that I never would have done before. It has given me the courage and confidence to face difficult situations. It’s a really supportive project that allows for lots of opportunities.”

Hannah worked with different people during her time on the YES Project, but Faye, her Keyworker said:

“Working with Hannah was really good. I’m happy she was able to access so many services and really make the best use of her time on the YES Project. I wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors.”

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the participant.