Scheme helps teen get life back on track
A TEENAGER from Bridgend who has turned her life around thanks to an Olympic hero has told her story in the Senedd.
By her own admission, Jodie Coupland’s life wasn’t going the way she wanted 18 months ago.
The Cefn Glas teenager was in her final year at Ysgol Bryn Castell and did not have any idea what she wanted to do after finishing school.
But then she got involved with Wales’ first ever Get on Track programme, and everything changed.
Run by the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust and supported locally by Bridgend council, the trust’s flagship programme uses elite athletes as role models to help transform the lives of young people and inspire them to make more positive life choices.
Jodie was part of a group that was mentored by Wales women’s rugby international Philippa Tuttiett.
From their base at the Bridgend Life Centre, the group took part in a variety of activities, and were exposed to a range of new experiences to help bond them together as a group.
All of the participants were aged between 16 and 24 years old, and had faced challenges in their young lives.
Get on Track helped them brush up on interview techniques, learn how to write CVs, and get involved in volunteering.
Jodie came out of the course a much more focused and determined person, ready to achieve her goals.
She has since gained a part-time job with Halo Leisure and has also as- sisted Philippa Tuttiett on this year’s programme in Maesteg as well as helping other young people in Blaenau Gwent.
Last week, Jodie told her story to a large crowd of dignitaries and representatives from several organisations after being invited to the Senedd by Bridgend AM Carwyn Jones.
Jodie said: “Get on Track changed my life in so many ways and I could never thank Philippa and the rest of Dame Kelly’s team enough for all the help and support they’ve given me.
“They are truly inspirational people – everyone needs an athlete mentor! I would definitely recommend the project to every young person if you want to go back into education, training, work or even need help with life skills. Whatever you need is on this course.”
Jodie was joined in Cardiff Bay by Dame Kelly Holmes herself, who is keen for the Get on Track programme to expand in other parts of Wales after its successful start in Bridgend County Borough.
To date, the Kelly Holmes Trust has worked with more than 400 world class athletes across the UK and supported in excess of 300,000 young people facing disadvantage. Dame Kelly’s vision is for the trust to support over 10,800 more young people in Wales by 2020.
She said: “We believe that every young person in Wales – regardless of their past or current circumstances – has the potential to have a positive future. It can take just one special individual to help them realise the confidence and determination needed to succeed and the resilience to go again if barriers or challenges arise.
“That’s why I’m so excited to see the impact of our work in partnership with Bridgend County Borough Council and the potential we have to reach so many more thousands of young people facing disadvantage across Wales over the next few years.”