Help is at hand for care leavers
APROJECT which helps support young care leavers is setting up in Macclesfield.
Pure Insight helps to tackle loneliness and isolation among youngsters who have turned 16 and are no longer under the care of the local authority.
Youngsters often find this new independence lonely and stressful.
From January 2017 there will be a Mentoring Coordinator based in Macclesfield, and the charity is appealing for volunteer mentors to begin training so help is at hand for any young people from the town.
The project is for young people aged between 16 and 25.
Claire Bryan, 23, was placed in care when she was just nine years old and spent the rest of her childhood in foster homes.
She said the help she received from the Stockport branch of the project was invaluable.
She said: “It’s scary when you come out of care,” said Claire, from Stockport. “You’re put in this house. It feels like you’re just dumped there.
“You get used to it but it’s horrible living on your own for the first time.”
It was through one of Insight’s ‘ speed mentoring’ nights in January 2015 that Claire was introduced to her new mentor Jennette Sains.
The pair hit it off immediately and now count each other as firm friends.
In the last year Jennette has helped Claire with practical living arrangements, such as finding a new house, and supported her through the birth of her second baby, Holly.
Jennette, 43, says being a mentor has enriched her life as well as Claire’s.
“Claire and I got on straight away and have become more like friends,” she said.
“We’ve done so much fun stuff together too. We’ve been to London and did the Pretty Muddy Run together.”
Jennette and Claire are now encouraging other young care leavers and potential mentors to get involved with Insight.
Claire added: “When you have a mentor you have someone who’s there for you, like a family.
“Jennette has become like an auntie to my children as well as a friend to me.”
Pure Insight is recruiting new mentors for its next intake in September.
For more information, visit pureinsight.org.uk.