Tiana, age 20

We know that we our programmes work because young people tell us we are inspiring them to transform their lives.

Tiana participated in Teens and Toddlers aged 14 and is now aged 20. Tiana was identified by her school as being at risk of permanent exclusion: she had poor overall attendance, and had been temporarily excluded on a number of occasions. At home in Peckham, Tiana had a lot of responsibility – she was the second eldest child of a single mother and cared for her siblings after school and in the evenings whilst her mother worked. In order to attend the Teens and Toddlers programme, Tiana had to organise childcare for her siblings after school. Tiana says "I know my mother loves me, but she was so busy and working so hard she did not have time to teach me about life."

At the start of the project, Tiana continued to be loud and sometimes openly hostile towards her peers and the facilitators; Tiana regularly spoke over or interrupted the other teens in the group. Tiana was paired with a toddler who was often aggressive, angry and had frequent outbursts and fights with other toddlers; Tiana found this relationship challenging, but reported it helped her reflect on her own way of interacting with others. As the programme progressed, Tiana began to improve her listening and empathy skills towards her fellow teens in the group – she stopped talking over others during classroom time, and she began to protect several of the other teens in the group who were being bullied at school by other teens. On the project Tiana's attendance was 100%.

Tiana says, "Life is like being on a football pitch, being expected to score and not knowing the rules. Teens and Toddlers teaches you the rules and now I am scoring goals all over the place."

Tiana continued her education and was not permanently excluded; she began volunteering with a local youth service in her area working with vulnerable younger teens. Tiana continued with her education post-secondary school by completing her A Levels, and she enrolled in university in 2008. Tiana is currently training with COUI –Teens & Toddlers to gain her Level 3 Youth Work Diploma and to facilitate Teens and Toddlers projects. She also participates in the charity's Young Leaders' programme, which encourages young people to develop youth-led community projects.

Tiana recently reported, 'I did Teens and Toddlers as a little girl, but they saw something special in me that I didn't see. The charity has continued to support me and to help me to become a person who can give back to others. I want to do so much to change the world and to help my community, and I'm so thankful to them, and I want to give back to others in some little way like they helped me.'

November 2010