Billie's Story
Billie is 16 and wants to be a television journalist. To pursue this ambition, she has recently been sorting out a college for her A levels and arranging work experience placements at various organisations, including the BBC.
So far, so normal, but this represents real progress for Billie, progress that would not have been achieved without intensive support from Hanover Foundations, which provides one-to-one coaching for disadvantaged young people in need. Billie was put in touch with Hanover because her schoolwork was suffering as a result of extreme problems she had been experiencing at home.
The oldest of three children in a single-parent family, Billie lives in an area dominated by gangs of youths who deal drugs and carry guns. Shortly before she began seeing her Hanover coach, a next door neighbour had been violently attacked and a local boy had been caught in the crossfire of a nearby shooting. As her mother gets scared at nights, Billie always felt that she had to be strong and take care of her whole family. Over time, the stress had started to make her severely depressed and, at her first meeting with her coach, she said that she sometimes felt suicidal.
After a few sessions, however, she had become better at coping with her situation. Intelligent and talented at English and Drama, Billie began to focus much more on her schoolwork and realised she enjoyed being at school and working hard. She submitted all her required GCSE course-work and, as a result, her school reported that she was back on track to obtain her predicted GCSE grades. She also began to see the school counsellor regularly and this gave her added confidence and security, so much so that she made an inspiring presentation to her classmates on children growing up without fathers. Her coach is now very optimistic that her natural ability and creativity will provide a positive way for her to heal the damage and pain that she has experienced in the past and enable her to move forward into a far brighter future.
Click here to find out more about how Hanover Foundations helps young people like Billie.
