Issue 6 - January 2019

It came to fruition when I was 31years old. Before that, I grew up,finished college and joined thearmy not long after that. I wasnot a particularly good soldierand eventually I left the serviceand migrated to the UK to seekmy good fortune and becomerich and famous. I am stillworking on that. I lived in a fewcities before moving toEdinburgh. I guess my arrival toEdinburgh coincided with mypremature middle life crisis.

I decided to reinvent myself andmake the most of what my newhome has to offer. When I wasin the army, and even beforethat, I noticed that I am a goodlistener and sometimes, just bylistening to someone, it ispossible to help them to developtheir true potential. I enjoyedbeing a part of it so much, that I

SEBASTIANRESZKOWSKISenior Support Worker,Edinburgh Mental Health Service

It all started with MelGibson's "Braveheart". Iwas 15 years old, stillliving in Poland and haddeveloped a veryunhealthy obsession withthis movie. I stoppedcounting how many timesI had seen it after the20th viewing. There weremany more. Eventuallymy obsession died downbut "a seed of Scottish-ness" must have beenplanted in mysubconscious and Ialways knew that I wouldvisit Wallace's homelandone day.

decided that I may start doingthis for living.

Not long after that, I managedto complete an access course atthe Edinburgh University whichopened the door for me to studypsychology. During my secondyear of university, I changed myjob and became a supportworker for a charity whichhelped people with mentalhealth issues. I still remembermy first shift. I finished my workand all I could think of was "runas fast as you can and nevercome back".

I decided to stay and within afew months' time I started tolove this job. I met amazingpeople and now I know thatthey helped me more than I wasever able to help them.

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CONTENTSSebastian Reszkowski p1Ian Stevenson p2Jamie Donaghy p3Darren Wilkie p4-5Marion Tromans p6Ellen Graham p7Lindsay Johnstone p8Pamela Paton p9-10

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Our People

Our People

After a few months of being aSupport Worker, I realised thatstudying psychology gave melimited knowledge to use in myjob.

Therefore, on my third year, Ienrolled on an HNC Counsellingcourse at Edinburgh College.Studying counselling was arevelation for me. Suddenly, Iwas able to learn so many newthings which helped me to be abetter Support Worker. On theother hand, it was also verydifficult as any prospectivecounsellor, to do this jobproperly, needs to go throughthe process of self-development,which can be very difficult. Todeal with that I have a fewhobbies which help me to relax.

I like to travel. In the last fewyears I have travelled all aroundEurope and this year wemanaged to visit USA, Israel,Jordan and Japan. I also likestand-up comedians. Myfavourite one is Stewart Lee. Butmy biggest passion is collectingold movie posters from 1940sand 50s and paintings(reproductions) of Beksinski. Ihope that one day I would beable afford to buy the originals.

I graduated from university andcollege more than a year agonow. It was the proudestmoment of my life. What made iteven more special is that I couldshare it with my long- termgirlfriend, Ania. After I gained myqualifications, I knew that it wastime for me to move on to thenew job as unfortunately, therewas no possibility to progress inmy employment back then.

It was very difficult for me toleave.

I still miss people I wassupporting, even though I seemost of them from time totime. When I came across anadvert for the position of SeniorSupport Worker in EMHS, Iknew straightaway that Iwanted the job. I applied for itmore times that I am willingadmit without beingembarrassed. The mostimportant thing was that Imanaged to get it eventually. Atthe same time when I started towork at with YOU, I enrolled onthe part time MSc Counsellingat Abertay University.

It has been a year now since Istarted to work for with YOU. Itfeels that my journey, which Istarted eight years ago, hasreached the point when I cansay that I have finally arrived atthe right place. I am surroundedby dedicated people, who arealways willing to give me adviceand listen to what I have to say.I have developed incrediblerelationships with people wesupport.

I often have an opportunity tosee how they manage todevelop their own potential,despite many obstacles. It isalways a humbling experiencefor me. I love that I can start myweek of work with a visit to asupported person and have alively dispute about theinfluence of Stoicism in themodern world and I can end myweek assisting someone to visita haunted house wheresomeone's innocent fart hasbeen mistaken for a presence ofthe ghost. To paraphraseCharles Bukowski; I've foundwhat I love, and it let me live.

I am Chair of the Board. Whatdoes this mean? Well - the Boardmeets around 6 or 7 times a yearwith Rhona and her team toreview how the organisation isdoing and think about what itshould do in the future. I runthese meetings and speak withRhona regularly.

I really appreciate all the greatwork of the staff and love thestories about people connectedwith us. As we have recentlymoved away from being part ofthe Places for People Group, Ithink the future of theorganisation looks really positivefor everyone.

My other role is as FinanceDirector with an organisationcalled Creative Scotland. It givesgrants to individuals andorganisations in the Arts, Screenand Creative Industries acrossScotland. It keeps me prettybusy, but outside of work I liketo spend time with my family(mainly playing with lego) andtrying to play golf.

SEBASTIAN RESZKOWSKIcontinued from page 1

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IANSTEVENSONwith YOU Chair

I am a Senior Support Worker atParkhead Lodge young personsaccommodation in Penicuik. Wesupport people who arehomeless from ages 16-24. Theaccommodation has 5 highsupport rooms and 8 low supportflats. Parkhead Lodge supportspeople to gain independent livingskills so they can move on to theirown tenancy and successfullymanage this independently.

I come from the Midlothian areaand grew up in Gorebridge, I leftschool at 16 and joined the BritishArmy. I started my training at theArmy's Junior Leaders College inHarrogate where I received mybasic training and after a year Ipassed out of Harrogate andwent on to my Phase 2 training atCatterick where I received myinfantry specific training. Isuccessfully passed phase 2 inearly 2005 and was sent to myRegiment the Royal Scots basedin Edinburgh's DreghornBarracks.

During my time with The RoyalScots, which at that pointamalgamated with the Kings OwnScottish Borderers, to becomethe 1st Battalion of the RoyalRegiment of Scotland (1 Scots), I became a member of theMachine Gun Platoon whichmeant I also had to become a

military piper. This wasamazing as it meant that Iwould be involved in theRoyal Edinburgh MilitaryTattoo several times. Ialso played in MilitaryTattoos around the worldand spent 3 monthstravelling in America.

As part of my military duties Icompleted tours in Iraq, Kenyaand Belize. I took part in any sportor adventure activity I couldincluding deep-sea diving and rockclimbing and I was also part of myregimental boxing team.

In 2011, after 8 years, I left theArmy, but due to unforeseencircumstances I ended up havingto present as homeless withMidlothian Council. I was housedat 216 High Street in Dalkeithwhich is one of the low and nosupport accommodations thatwith YOU now manage as part ofthe M-TAP service. I even receivedsupport from some of the staffthat are still members of the M-TAP service after being movedover from Aspire to PFPSC&S/withYOU. During my time in theHomeless accommodation, Idecided to complete aqualification and received adiploma in personal training. Icreated a business plan as Idecided I was going to start myown personal training business.

Our People

I have two daughters Abigail (8) andAivah-Rose (7). I live with my PartnerEmma and her son Mackenzie (8) inEast Lothian.

As part of my short term plan Idecided I needed to get a jobuntil I built up a strong clientbase. One of the Staff membersat the Lothian Veteran Serviceinformed me that there was ajob advert for a Night Caretakerfor Places for People, ScotlandCare & Support. I applied forthe position and was successfulin my interview but was offereda job as a Support Workerinstead.

In November 2014, I startedworking in 29 St Andrew Streetand very quickly realised thatthis is what I wanted to do. Iwanted to help people like Iwas helped. The support Ireceived during this low time inmy life made a massivedifference to me and I wantedto do the same for otherpeople. In 2016 I applied for aSenior Support Worker post atParkhead Lodge and wassuccessful in the recruitmentprocess.

JAMIE DONAGHYSenior Support Worker M-TAP Parkhead Lodge

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Our People

In 2004, School of Rock hit UK cinemas. I was thirteen years old, I'd juststarted secondary school and music was my favourite subject. Sufficeto say, I left the cinema with one thing in mind - I was going to be amusician. Throughout my early school years I had a great music teachernamed Mr Nelson who kept that passion for music burning, however,in my third year Mr Nelson was diagnosed with cancer and left theschool.

When he returned a year laterhe had lost the use of his rightarm from the shoulder down. Iremember watching him slip adrumstick in his limp right handand use his shoulder to hit thestick off the drum-kit, orwatching him clip a bespokedevice to his forearm so hecould play the guitar. Despitethe challenges he continued toteach and inspire the students.

This was my first experiencewith someone I knew having adisability and it was an incredibly

powerful and positive one. Fromthen on I no longer wanted tojust play music, I wanted to be amusic teacher.

Fast forward a few years and Ihad studied music to the highestlevel at school, I'd spent twoyears studying music at NorthGlasgow College and I was in myfourth year of studying music atEdinburgh Napier University. Itwas at this time that Idiscovered music therapy and Iwas blown away. The idea that Icould use music to help people

who have suffered trauma orthose with a disabilityimmediately left a mark on me.Instead of writing and recordingan album for my honours projectlike most of my peers, I decidedto embrace the music therapyethos and I designed and built adevice called 'Daut - The DigitalAutomaton'. 'Daut' was aninteractive art and soundinstallation that creates a uniquepiece of music from a sentencetranscribed in Braille.

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DARRENWILKIESenior Support Worker East Craigs Service

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Our People

The idea was that if thesentence was meaningful to theparticipant then hearing thosewords transform into musiccould be a very powerful andrewarding experience,particularly for those with sightloss or communicationdifficulties. I received thehighest mark in my class for thiswork and was nominated for theBarron Quaich award.

Following this I was invited totake part in a student innovationworkshop at the 2016 EuropeanTechshare Conference inGlasgow organised by the RoyalNational Institute of BlindPeople (RNIB). This is Europe'slargest accessible technologyconference, it was a two dayevent and on the second day Ipresented on stage to thedelegates. In 2017 I was invitedto be a guest speaker atEdinburgh Napier's annual 20x20Pecha Kucha event andpresented to 200 students,faculty and professionals withinthe creative industries.

Meanwhile, I had decided to putteaching on hold and insteadchose to follow the musictherapy route. Whilst still atuniversity I applied for a job as aSupport Worker with ENABLEScotland in 2016 to gainexperience working within thecare and support sector and wassuccessful due to my work on'Daut'. In 2017, I left ENABLEScotland and was offered a jobas a support worker for Placesfor People Scotland Care &Support.

I was offered a post at the EastLothian Service - mostly byaccident in truth, the thenmanager Jim Redpath asked if Icould get from my flat inEdinburgh to Tranent for a 7amstart and I actually thought hesaid Trinity so said "yeh ofcourse!" - it turned out to be alittle further than I'd anticipatedbut I stuck with the three hourdaily commute, met some lovelypeople and learned as much as Icould, it was there that Icompletely fell in love withsupport work. I spent a year atthe East Lothian Service beforelanding a Senior Support Workerrole at the East Craigs service.

I've been at the East Craigsservice for just over a year nowand have really enjoyed thechallenges the new role hasoffered. In late 2018 Iinterviewed to become part ofthe autism training team andwas successful. I'm nowcurrently working with RaymondDocherty (Senior SupportWorker at the CaltongateService), and Rachael Kenyon(manager at the East Craigs andCardross services) to developand deliver our 'Introduction toAutism Training' which I am veryexcited about.

I no longer have a desire tobecome a music teacher ormusic therapist but I do spendmost of my free time beingcreative and my current focus isto use these skills to help others.In 2018 I launched a projectcalled 'Reach Out' designed tochallenge stigma associated withspeaking about mental health.

This is a project I have beenworking on for just over twoyears with photographer DenitsaToshirova, our debut exhibitionran from 12th-18th October 2018at Whitespace Gallery, Edinburghand we're currently in talks withother galleries across Scotlandto hopefully expand the project.

For more info about what we doplease visit www.reachout-project.com.

It's funny how things work out,if I hadn't become so interestedin music in my early teens I maynot have been so inspired by mymusic teacher, I wouldn't havehad that first powerfulexperience with someone Iknow having a disability and Iwouldn't have spent six years infurther education studyingmusic to hopefully inspireothers.

I wouldn't have designed aninstallation to help people withdisabilities so I probablywouldn't have found myself insupport work. However, this iswhere I have found myself and Iam very thankful for it.

DARREN WILKIEcontinued from page 4

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Our People

When assessed at College mytutor was amazed that I had gotthrough school by using my ownmethods, by singing thealphabet and making up rhymesin my head to remember things.Once I knew I was dyslexic, andthings were put in place inCollege, I grew from then on.

I completed a Counselling courseand then went to work withWomen on to Work, workingwith people with learningdisabilities, at a day centre. I didmany hours volunteering in thecommunity and learned somuch. One day I got a realsurprise when I was given aWomen of Achievement awardfor my work as a volunteer.

I had just started a trainingcourse as a Nursing Assistant,when a job came up in the localarea as a Support Worker in acommunity house at Bingham(Edinvar) working with peoplewith learning disabilities. I got aninterview and was delighted toget the job. I loved this job so

much, and with lots of training inareas such as Epilepsy, First Aid,Food Hygiene, ChallengingBehaviour and many more. Withthis continuous training myconfidence grew in the job.

Support needs were changing toencourage people to liveindependently in their ownhomes and we went fromBingham to the Peffer Serviceand became Places for PeopleScotland Care & Support. Noweveryone had their own flat andwere living independently withour support.

I have developed lots of skillsand grown as a person. I havelearned from the people wesupport to understand moreabout Autism, Dementia, end oflife care and learning disabilityand communication through"talking mats" and "Makatonsigning". All the people I havesupported have been myteachers.

I have found it a greatadvantage to work and live in

MARIONTROMANSPeffer Service

I have spent most of my life inthe Niddrie/Craigmillar area. Iwent to school here. I did not doso well at school. I seemed to beslower than everyone elseespecially in writing and spelling.It wasn't until much later when Iwent to College that I discoveredthe reason I had been muchslower was that I was dyslexic.

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the community as I know a lot ofthe things that are going on andprojects in the area past andpresent.

Our service has grown bigger toinclude outreach. We have lotsof events and activities going onand the people we support arefully involved with all theactivities and every Tuesday theyhave their own meeting.

I really love what I bring to myjob and working with a positive,enthusiastic team. Our name haschanged to "with YOU "a namechosen by the people wesupport.

I have been working with thecharity now for over 14 yearsand still learning new things andskills i.e. IT systems, computersand online training.

The Peffer Service has been abig part of my life and I still verymuch enjoy working with thepeople we support and continueto learn from them.

Our People

When I left school, Iattended Stevenson'sCollege and studied pre-nursing. After completingthis step of my training, Iwas offered a place at theRoyal Victoria in Fife tobecome a registered nurse. I did not take this place, Idecided I would prefer to do mytraining later. After doingvarious jobs, which alwaysinvolved working with people, Imarried and had my children andthe opportunity to do mytraining never arose again. When my girls were both atschool, still having the desire tosupport people, I joined theCouncil. That was in the dayswhen social care workers werebeing introduced. I joined thatteam and gained my SVQ level 2.I really enjoyed home carehowever, I felt I needed to bemore involved with people'ssupport and after 7 years I leftthe Council.I gained a key worker's role in acare home for people withalcohol and or mental healthissues. This was a wet house, sothe residents continued to drinkwhile with us. Amongst many,one of the key working roleswas then to deliver personcentered support and keep theresidents as healthy, safe andhappy as possible respectingtheir life choices at the sametime. While there, I gained mySVQ level 3 and self-funded acertificate in mental health inthe community incorporating myHNC in Social Care.In 2013 I rejoined the Council tobe part of a complex care team.The aim of this service was toreduce bed blocking in the localhospitals. As our team woulddeliver support to people whowere not appropriate for home

care, this proved to be verysuccessful but unfortunately itwas not funded for a secondyear.In 2014 I was very pleased to jointhe Pleasance Day Service, andthis was a complete change forme. I enjoyed it from day 1 andcontinue to do so. The servicedelivers excellent person-centered support to olderpeople, with various diagnosesof dementia, physical frailty orjust a lack of confidence, whichhas for some of them, led toisolation. We have all different activitiesand encourage people to regainskills they had. Everyone enjoystrying new activities andespecially enjoy working on jointoutcomes. We have knitted ablanket to keep warm whentravelling in the bus in thewinter, created an album of the'way we were', have anotheralbum called the Chronicles ofthe Day Service, with picturesand comments of all ouractivities, parties and outings.These albums are ongoing, andpeople love to look back on allour activities and like to shownew people joining the group,what they can expect from theservice. We also jointly work ondecorating our main wall withtopical themes such as Burnsnight, Halloween, Spring,Autumn, Remembrance Day, StAndrews Day and of course anymajor religious festivals. We also have discussions about'hot topics' which are of interestto the group. Although the people we supportenjoy a busy, varied day,everyone who attends tell staffthat the most important thingfor them is being supported toget out the house and meetpeople in a social setting,otherwise they would feelisolated.

We have 2 outings a year; on ourSummer outings we havetravelled on the steam train atBo'ness, while having afternoontea. Last year, we sailed downthe canal at Ratho and had apacked lunch on the barge inglorious sunshine. This year wewent to the Falkirk Wheel andhad lunch at a lovely hotel inFalkirk. For the past 3 years we havebooked the Apex hotel inHaymarket for our Christmasparty and we are able to hire aprivate room there. This allowsus to have our own live music,the lunch we have is alwaysexcellent and there is muchsinging and dancing and ofcourse everyone receives a giftto open on Christmas Day. Weinvite people we supportpartners to these outings as thismay be the only opportunity,they now have, to have a dayout together and we are morethan happy to support themwith this.I have had great support from allmy colleagues and managers inmy time with the company andwould like to thank everyone formaking my job so enjoyable,especially the people I support.

ELLEN GRAHAM

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I have been asked to puttogether a little bit aboutme. I am not sure where to start but here goes.HOW IT BEGAN . . .

I left Penicuik High School inDecember 1984 with noqualifications and with greataspirations of becoming ahairdresser. My Mum worked inJohn Menzies' payroll departmentin their Head Office and was askedif she thought I might like sometemporary work. It was to be for 2weeks in the token department,working with 2 lovely ladies, Lilyand Lorraine (who seemed veryold to me as a 15 year old)counting the Christmas giftvoucher tokens. In hindsight, Ithink my Mum always had agreater plan for me thanhairdressing and this was just thestart of it. I was not delighted atthe prospect of working in anoffice or counting tokens, but thepromise of earning £60 per weekswung it for me in the end and itwas only for 2 weeks after all… Itwas a busy year for gift vouchersin 1984, I was still countingenormous sacks of gift vouchers 6weeks later! I will always wonderwhat kind of hairdresser I wouldhave been had it worked outdifferently.

At the end of the 6 weeks, I wasencouraged to apply for a YTS(Youth Training Scheme) place inthe retail merchandisingdepartment, which I did. This jobwas not so great, I was a bit boredas there was not really enoughwork for a trainee. I was oftengiven typing books to carry outtyping exercises, I probably thinkto keep me out of trouble, to stopme bothering the Secretary forwork and generally being anuisance. I felt I was not learninganything - I was not a typist thenand although I can now type andprobably at reasonable speed itsnot a natural talent. They movedme to the Retail AdminDepartment - this was a youngdepartment and much more mything at that time.

Our People

As such, our jobs within Financechanged, most of the work thatwe had been responsible for wasmoved to the head office inPreston. A consequence of themerger was that there wereseveral redundancies within thedepartment and our jobs changedsignificantly. As much as I liked myjob there, a new opportunity wason the horizon and I moved topastures new in 2008.

I worked in another couple ofHousing Associations, gainingexperience along the way, themost recent being at Link Groupwhere I worked for 7 years as theAccountant and Business Partnerfor LinkLiving a job I liked,however I felt latterly that I hadmore to give and was up for a newchallenge…

THE NEW CHALLENGE . . .

I started my position here at withYOU on 5th February this year, mymotivation was entirely for thechallenge, and the belief in thevision the Board and SeniorManagement Team had for withYOU. The formation of anindependent standalone charity,providing services of excellentquality with staff that enablepeople we support to be at thecentre of the service deliverymodel.

As far as challenges go, I have notbeen disappointed, some peoplesay that nothing worth havingcomes easy, and whilst it has beena bit of a rollercoaster at times,we're now starting to see all thehard work that has been put in isbeginning to pay off. It's onlynow, when we look back andreflect on what has been achieved,we realise just how far we've comein such a short period of time.

As we now move forward, and asthe obstacles become lessfrequent, we can see the positiveimpact of the changes and we'rebeginning to see the with YOUvision take shape. Exciting timesahead…

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY . . .

It's not all hard work though - inmy spare time I like to make kilts,refurbish and upholster oldfurniture and sometimes, if I canpersuade myself to put my trainerson, I like to get out for a run so Ican reward myself with a nice glassof wine with family and friends.

After a few months of working inRetail Admin there was a jobadvertised on the noticeboard fora Wholesale Purchase LedgerClerk. I applied, and the rest ishistory, I stayed for 4 years.

THE FORMATIVE YEARS . . .

From John Menzies I moved toPillans & Wilson printers, this job Ireally liked. The people were nice,and there was a good socialaspect, when you are 21 that isquite important! I was given theopportunity to learn so much here,it's probably where I got most ofmy early accounts experience. Ithink they were impressed as theyasked me if I would like to go tocollege on a day release and dosome qualifications inaccountancy, I said yes. I also metmy husband, as he worked thereas the young ApprenticeCompositor and caught my eye.

As much as I enjoyed this job andwas not looking for a new role. Iwas offered something else that Icould not refuse, some things arejust meant to be…

In 1991, I moved to my new role ata KirkCare Housing Association asFinance Assistant. During my timehere I got married, passed myaccountancy qualifications, had mytwo children and had a promotionto Finance Officer. I stayed in thisrole for just under 12 years.

In 2002, I moved to Castle RockHousing Association to be SeniorFinance Officer, they were basedat Wishaw Terrace atMeadowbank at the time, this iswhere I managed my first Team. Iloved this job, the Team weregreat and the whole feel of theorganisation was warm andsupportive. During my time here,Castle Rock merged with EdinvarHousing and became part of thePlaces for People Group.

LINDSAYJOHNSTONEHead of Finance and Business Development

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amount to anything’ and myfavourite ‘you'll end up a teenagemum raising another failure’. Atthe time being a teenage mumdidn't appear all that bad butthe term raising another failurewas a loaded minefield.

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I manage services inEdinburgh and theLothians. The serviceswork with young peopleaged between 16 and 25,who are careexperienced, have amental health diagnosisand / or are at risk ofhomelessness.

I consider myself to beincredibly fortunate, I absolutelylove my job. I get theopportunity to develop servicesand support staff teams topositively impact on the lives ofyoung people every day. I takemy job seriously and absolutelybelieve every young person weare fortunate to enter the livesof deserves nothing less than anexceptional service. Serviceshave the power to maintain thestatus quo, breed dependencyor support the ability to dreambeyond the world we knowtoday and achieve goals wecouldn't begin to dream yet.Guess where my expectationslie?

Alfred A. Montapert wrote 'Toaccomplish great things wemust first dream', I do believewe must first dream but howcan you dream what you don'tknow. Adults in the lives ofyoung people hold theresponsibility to keep theimagination alive, encourageaspiration, promote confidenceand a strong sense of worth. Bethat figure of inspiration andencouragement regardless ofwhat has gone before becausewe didn't walk the path that ledthere.

I have lived in Edinburgh mywhole life, I grew up in one ofthe housing estates on theoutskirts of the city, a child ofthe benefit state. Growing upthere were so many messages oflow aspiration, I really didn'thave any sense of a world whereI could achieve. I can't count thenumber of times I heard ‘youcan't do that’, or ‘you'll never

Our People

PAMELA PATON Service Manager, Young People's Services

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Our People

My education was fragmented, Ihad my main primary andsecondary schools but duringtimes I was removed from mymother's care I was sometimesout of school and sometimessent to different schools forshort periods of time. I wasalways placed in the temporarycare of my outstandinglywonderful Granma but wasalways returned homeregardless of how hard shefought to stop that.

I left home and school at 14, Idon't think anyone noticed Iwasn't there. I still have myleaving reference from school,all it said was ‘Pamela can see thepositive in any situation’. Tenyears at school and that's all Ileft with. Thankfully I wasalready working before gettingthis reference, so I never neededto use it.

I had my first son 2 weeksbefore I turned 20, were thosenegative messages fromchildhood, right? I had mysecond son aged 21. Having myboys really pushed me to thinkabout aspirations. What Iaspired for them, I knew thiscame from having positive rolemodels and that's when myability to dream began.

My first job supporting peoplewas in a nursing home. Whilstthere the Matron put meforward for a day release coursethrough Stevenson College oncaring for people with Dementia.My next job was as a respitecarer for people with Dementia.I would work in 4-hour blocksproviding respite to carers in thecommunity.

An incident occurred with one ofthe carers I supported, I tried sohard to advocate on her behalfwith social services but gotnowhere. I learnt there was awhole other language that Icouldn't speak, I didn't have thevocabulary to encourage peoplein a position of power to take meseriously. The injustice of thelack of support for this carer andthe impact on the wider familystirred an incredible passion inme to learn the words peoplewould listen too.

I called one of the tutors atStevenson College I knew fromdoing the course previously andexplained what I thought Ineeded. Within weeks I was afull-time student. I completed ayear's course in 6 months, thensigned up for the next levelcourse. Before I knew it, I was astudent at Edinburgh University,standing in a room with over2000 students on our first day. Ilooked out the window andcould see the flat I'd lived in withmy 2 boys only a few yearsbefore. I had often looked outthe window of this flat and couldsee the impressive buildings ofMoray House and had neveronce imagined I'd be there, butthere I was.

Community Education is adiscipline formed in youth workand, as such, all students had todo a youth work placement. Iresented this, I had 2 boys of myown and no desire to work withother people's children, or so Ithought.

Apart from working in a nursinghome all other roles I've workedhave been community based.

I've worked with the homeless,carers, people with alcoholissues, people with mental ill-health, women in violentrelationships and people withlearning disabilities. As much asI've gained a wealth ofexperience in these roles, it'sworking with young peoplewere my true passion lies.

I was 26 when I began to dreamoutside the world I knew. I waslucky, in amongst the manynegative messages I absorbedgrowing up there were manypositive ones too, but it took meto the age of 26 to allow theseto break into my consciousness.Not disregarding all I still aspireto achieve, I often wonder, howdifferent would my life havebeen if I'd been encouraged todream earlier. It makes melaugh because I'll never knowand if I was given the chance, Iwouldn't change a single thing.

Like I said at the start, I considermyself to be incrediblyfortunate. I absolutely love myjob. I get to support teams thatsupport the development ofdreams in many young peopleevery day and I have 2 boys whoare now remarkable young men,achieving their own dreams.

PAMELA PATON continued from page 9

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with YOU, Hays Business Centre, 4 Hay Avenue, Edinburgh EH16 4AQ Tel. 0131 201 2931 e-mail: contact@withyou.support

Scottish Charity No: SC014023 regulated by the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)