Over the past year a group of vulnerable young people from Essex have participated in the Wilderness Foundation UK’s successful and much-in-demand TurnAround Project.    TurnAround aims to help young people who have experienced personal or social problems to change their lives.  Founded in 2007, the programme focuses on risk factors such as truanting, drug and alcohol misuse, youth offending, poor family relationships or leaving long term care.  It works with some of the most vulnerable youth aged 16-21 in our local community and has a track record of 83% of graduates entering further education or employment.  Young people who take part in the project are tracked for three years by the Wilderness Foundation UK and the University of Essex, so the long-term benefits of initiatives of this nature and be evidenced.
On Sunday 20th March 2016 the latest group of participants celebrated their achievements over the last twelve months at a formal graduation ceremony attended by friends and family, charity staff and volunteers together with trustees and members of civic society.
“The group of young people from this year’s project who graduated are a lot different from the group we had at the beginning,” says TurnAround Project Coordinator Rosie Carpenter.  “Back then, they were not fully engaging in their education, could not work together, had low self-esteem and were getting themselves into trouble both at home and in the community.  However, the group had one thing in common – they had taken a leap of faith and said they would commit to the TurnAround Project and aim to move their lives forward in a positive direction.”
Over the year the young people have taken part in social meetings to build their sense of belonging, workshops to increase their skills and knowledge and two wilderness journeys designed to improve their resilience, independence and self-esteem.  Along the way they have been supported individually by community mentors who have met with them weekly and also been encouraged to take up voluntary work and work placements.  One of the young people, Michael, has completed over 100 hours of voluntary work a the charity’s community allotments.  Michael says “I love going to the allotments.  You can just get stuck in and I always feel much calmer once I have spent time there.”  Another young person commented “I have learned a lot on the TurnAround Project, I have learned to work with others, to talk about my feelings, to believe in myself and how to think more positively about my future.”
Jo Roberts, CEO of the Wilderness Foundation UK explained at the graduation ceremony that “no two intakes of TurnAround groups are the same.  We treat each young person individually and help them with what they specifically need.  This may be issues with anger, trying to get work experience, having better social skills and so on.  While this makes our job more challenging, it also makes us unique.”
The TurnAround Project will run again for the seventh and eighth cohorts once the balance of funding required to run the programme has been secured.  Funding has already been awarded by the Police Crime Commissioner’s Office and Lindsay Whitehouse, Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex commended the project, saying “This project really is worthwhile.  It uses nature and respect for the environment to help young people get back on track and learn new skills which enhance their employment prospects and enables them to make a positive overall contribution to society.”
The next event is for TurnAround5 and 6 graduates to bid for £2,000 towards their future education, training or business start-up costs.  The money has kindly been donated by The Dulverton Trust who have set up a scholarship fund in memory of the late Lady Diana Kemp-Welch who was a much-loved Patron of the TurnAround Project.  Each young person that has submitted an application form will be pitching their ideas to a panel of independent judges to bid for two chances to secure the scholarship on Wednesday 13th April 2016.