Funded by the Welsh Government, the BME Children and Young People's Project aims to support young people aged 0-25 who identify as Black or from a minority ethnic background. This project helps young people in so many ways.
Naim's role with us involved distributing food parcels and emergency utilities to vulnerable families whilst also supervising homework club sessions
Support provided:
Who?
"I was delivering to over 20 families a week travelling around 25 miles a day to get food and essentials out" - Naim
Where?
Naim was located in Cardiff. The program however supports families in Cardiff, Newport and Wrexham
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Continue reading on to get to know more about Naim!
I heard about the placement around the time I was finishing a course with UWTSD. The application was straightforward and the BME CYP Team Lead, Fateha Ahmed, told me about the position, how I'd be distributing packages and helping BME families. It was obvious EYST was the ideal place for me, fitting in with my values while I considered transitioning to a different level of education.
I collected food from stores around Cardiff, places like Co-op, Tesco & Asda and delivered it to a variety of families in need.
In the end I was delivering more than just food as I focused on what the families needed. For example some families did not have pots and pans or kitchen utilities like a microwave.
As part of my duties I also assisted with the Homework Club, creating work for the learners and helping with subjects like math and English.
It was so important for our young people to get help with their school work when schools weren't open.
Covid made my work slightly harder because everyone was buying more food and leaving less "waste". While there was less food in stores from everyone stocking up, the pool of food for the families that needed extra support shrank. This led me to visiting multiple stores sometimes to fill up just one food package.
It was a once in a lifetime experience where I was able to help families and young children at all hours. It was very hands-on and it kept me occupied during the lockdown.
I hadn't worked at any place like EYST before; this was very unique and a new type of challenge for me. EYST was really supportive and members of staff were always ready to help me with any issues I had.
My values and EYST's values are essentially the same. It's all about giving back: helping the community, helping the young ones, helping vulnerable families. These were things that were a no-brainer for me
When I started at EYST I was really disorganised and kind of sloppy; I had to become organised to make sure I did everything expected of me. Time management became important.
Throughout my placement I was communicating with families that could not speak English. This led to me adapting and learning more about them to know how to help them with their specific needs.
