I’m trying to do well for myself now because no one else is going to do it for me.

I’ve always been passed back and forth between different family members throughout my life. Mum and I argued a lot when we lived together. She’d throw me out all the time, so I didn’t have a stable place to call home.

My behaviour in school became quite bad because of the whole situation. My teachers didn’t seem to understand, putting me in a separate class to my friends. I transferred to a new school in the end and everything was okay for a bit but then, just before my GCSE’s were about to start, Mum threw me out again.

Social Services stepped in at this point. I did ask to be placed in foster care because I just couldn’t deal with the whole situation and felt so upset and stressed out but, luckily, a place in one of Llamau’s supported accommodations came up and I’ve been there ever since and love it. I honestly couldn’t have been placed anywhere better. It’s like having a second family.

My support workers, Tyler and Zoe, have helped me so much. Thanks to them and the Step into Education team at Llamau, I’ve been given a great work placement and feel so excited about the future. I’m about to start a new placement working with people that have disabilities as, one day, I’d like to be a support worker myself.

I have friends around me now and only feel lonely some of the time, but that just pushes me to keep trying. This time a few months ago, college was completely out of the question but now, working here and interacting with people, I feel so much more positive about the idea of college.