Y Plus Coaching in Hampshire share case study following funding to reduce rural isolation
This year grants were awarded to support co-created projects through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. These projects offer secondary school-aged young people opportunities to try different types of physical activity, create safe spaces, reduce isolation, and build confidence by engaging in new activities. This has been match funded by #BeeWell/The National Lottery Community Fund. Youth Matters, the HIPS youth steering group, sorted through those applications and made their recommendations.
Y Plus coaching were one of the providers who were chosen. The project provided young people with access to activities that they are unable to access through financial, accessibility and mental/physical health struggles. They provided a supportive and accessible environment to build relationships with young people, providing them with access to a range of activities and support.
We asked Y Plus Coaching to share a case study with us to demonstrate the effectiveness of the programme.
The outcomes
This young person, who has been attending Y+ sessions since starting secondary school, is experiencing significant difficulties within their home environment. Key presenting issues include:
- Communication Breakdown and Feeling Unheard. They report feeling consistently unheard at home, characterized by “constantly argu[ing] with their parents that black is white.” This suggests a deep-seated communication breakdown and a lack of validation from their parents.
- Perceived Sibling Favouritism. Concurrently they feel their sibling receives preferential treatment and more attention, contributing to feelings of unfairness and potentially resentment.
- Desire to Leave Home. The intensity of their home difficulties has led to a previous desire to no longer live with their parents. At that time indicating a severe level of distress and potentially an unsafe or unsupportive environment from their perspective.
#BeeWell Project as a Protective Factor:
In stark contrast to their home life, the #BeeWell Project served as a crucial protective factor and a vital source of support for this young person:
- Feeling Listened To and Valued. The #BeeWell sessions is a place where they “feel listened to,” directly addressing a core unmet need from their home environment.
- Sense of Belonging and Importance. They describe the #BeeWell project and its staff as “the most important thing in their week.” Both highlighting and showing the profound positive impact it has on their well-being and sense of self.
- Desire for Engagement and Contribution. Their eagerness to volunteer for extra sessions Y+ offer the community, work with younger children, help with fundraising, and “simply feel apart of a group, accepted and listened too” demonstrates a strong desire for prosocial engagement, responsibility, and a deeper sense of community. Additionally this suggests they are finding a positive outlet for their energy and a constructive way to build self-esteem.
Strengths and Resiliencies:
However, despite their challenging home circumstances, this young person exhibits several strengths and resiliencies:
- Seeking Support. Their consistent attendance at the #BeeWell project demonstrates an ability to identify and access a supportive resource.
- Prosocial Tendencies. Their desire to volunteer and help others indicates a capacity for empathy and a drive to contribute positively to their community.
- Desire for Connection. Their longing to feel “accepted and listened to” particularly underscores a fundamental human need for connection and belonging. Subsequently they are actively seeking and finding within the #BeeWell project.
- Self-Awareness (Implied). Their ability to articulate their feelings about being unheard and the importance of the #BeeWell project furthermore suggests a degree of self-awareness regarding their emotional needs.
To summarise this case study is an illustration that projects such as this are vital to increasing young people’s self-esteem, building relationships and engagement in further opportunities.
Y Plus Coaching offer a range of youth services, see their website for more details.
