Abi

We started working with Abi when she was 23. She’d experienced significant adversity as a child and through her teenage years, and was a survivor of exploitation and grooming. 

Circumstances meant that Abi had experienced grooming throughout her teenage years and hadn’t been able to pass her GCSEs. She left school early with no qualifications, and experienced homelessness and abuse before accessing support as a young adult.  

It wasn’t until she had begun to process her trauma, that she decided to pursue her true calling in life and work with children, as a teacher. However, to undergo her teacher training, she needed her Maths and English GCSEs which she didn’t yet have. 

She came to us for weekly tuition, and we worked with her 1-2-1 in our office in Hebden Bridge. She told us that having us there meant that it was a commitment for her to physically come to our office every week and work with a tutor, and when she could, she also came to our office in the evenings after work to come and sit on her own and do her homework and prepare for her tests.  Abi told us that we were able to make her accountable and make sure she was on track ahead of her examinations. Jo personally worked with her, mentoring her every day, phoning her up and supporting her through the dark days she experienced. 

When the time came, she passed her GCSE Maths and English first time, achieving, what was then, As and A*s.

Abi now works as a Reception Class teacher and Early Years Team Leader, and volunteers to work with young people who have experienced adversity to support them achieve their academic goals and reach their potential. She is currently helping assimilate Afghani and Ukrainian refugees into her form and is enjoying welcoming their cultural traditions to her diverse and lively classroom.