Ashley* was supported by the TFS Wellbeing Service, which provides one to one support and access to opportunities for children and young people impacted by parental drug and alcohol use. This story shares Ashley's story of change.
Ashley is 16, she was referred to the TFS Wellbeing Service by the Barca-Leeds Youth Work team who have been supporting her since she was 11 years old. Ashley's mum was struggling with alcohol use and poor mental health following a family incident that was causing the whole family trauma.
Ashley has 3 younger siblings who she is a young carer for, she is a big support for her mum emotionally and practically and spends a lot of her free time ‘co-parenting’ the younger children.
When the family started working with TFS, we referred them for some Family Support to help mum with her emotional and physical health – and to ease some pressure for Ashley in the home.
Throughout support, Ashley continued to engage with Barca youth groups. The TFS team worked with her younger siblings providing group work and one to one support for the children. The whole family also attended holiday trips including a trip to the seaside over Summer with Barca Healthy Holidays activities.
The TFS Wellbeing Service signposted mum to additional support and helped her to access and attend appointments. The Barca Worker was present and offered support to mum at key moments like when their Family Support Worker first got introduced. As Ashley's mum engaged with support, it started to make a big difference to the basic and emotional needs of the children.
Ashley is a lot happier as she can actually be a 16 year old rather than a parent. She attends at least 3 Barca-Leeds sessions a week, is doing well at college and has also started volunteering for Barca at events and interview panels for new staff. She is now applying for further education and aspires to become a Youth Worker.
*Names changed to protect identities
