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 Children in Need
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The 91Èȱ¬ Children in Need Appeal – bigger than ever!
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Case studies from projects which received a grant
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Addiction recovery centre - for children who have an alcoholic or drug addicted parent
- Maria's Story
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My father has been addicted to drugs and alcohol throughout my whole life – I'm
now 15.
Whenever I spent time with him he always seemed to be under the influence of
something - it was horrible.
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I worried all the time, and felt everything about my
life was negative. I also felt angry, guilty, and resentful that I had to deal
with the stuff I had to deal with.
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I started self harming, which I guess was my way of expressing these emotions.
I had no real friends, so I couldn't talk to anyone about what I was going
through.
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My dad started going to ARC three years ago, for help with his addictions. They
also look after young people my age, whose parents have addictions.
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I now go there
about two to five times a week.
Things completely changed for me after I went there.
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ARC helped me look at myself
and my life and my attitude. They helped me look at my reactions to what I was
going through, and I began to feel that actually, I was normal, it was just my
circumstances that weren't.
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ARC helped me turn my life around. I had no life beforehand. I know that now.
Everyone in my family was permanently in a state of despair, fear, and anger. I
had no hope, no love and did not believe in myself.
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Now, because of the time I've spent with the people at ARC I have good self
esteem, and a feeling inside me of faith and hope.
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I'm now a very positive person,
and ARC have put together a special programme for me to help ensure that I always
maintain this frame of mind and it stays real and permanent for me.
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I've also met
others who faced similar experiences, and generally find it easier to make real
friends.
I feel like a free person now.
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Without ARC there was no life, only an existence.
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SHAP - a housing and support project for homeless young people -
Zoe's story, 18
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I left home just under a year ago because of family conflicts. I was being bullied
by my father's girlfriend. I'm blind, and she would poke fun at my disability. I
also had no privacy.
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I managed to find a one bedroom flat above a shop to live in through a housing
association, but it was cramped and filthy. I felt ashamed to let anyone come to
the flat because it was filthy, smelly and scruffy.
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Every day I'd just eat biscuits for meals for I had no money and the condition of
the flat meant you couldn't cook food there. At the time I felt very low, anxious
and depressed.
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Then a friend of mine told me about SHAP. I get weekly home visits from them and
phonecalls. Staff at SHAP help me set up my utilities accounts, help me with
paying bills and accessing education and training.
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They also give me moral and emotional support and accompany me to appointments and
mediate between me and the social services and other agencies for I am not always
that confident.
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Before I got involved with SHAP I had no one to talk to about what was going on in
my life.
They have helped me gain confidence and cope with living alone as a disabled
person.
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Before I got involved with the organisation I never thought I could.
I've also met other people my age with similar problems through SHAP. We share
past and present experiences and share information, and give each other ideas.
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I felt so alone before, like I was the only young person with problems and nowhere
to live.
Now SHAP has given me lots of ideas and options regarding finding a suitable place
to live and regarding my future career and looking ahead.
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Because of the help I
received from them I have found the confidence to apply for courses and maybe jobs
in the future.
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CancerBACUP– supporting children with cancer
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Hello, I am Robert and I am 13 years old. I was diagnosed with leukaemia on
January the 13th 2003, when I was 11 years old.
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I had intensive chemotherapy, and things were going well but in the autumn of last
year I had a bone marrow transplant.
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This was a devastating experience for me and
my family, and it meant undergoing more intensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
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I lost all my hair. I also started to look different because I gained a lot of
weight due to the steroids I was on. It wasn't very nice.
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I got help from CancerBACUP who provided support and someone to talk to, and
answered my questions.
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The things I wanted to know were: 'Was I going to die?' 'Can it be cured?' 'Would I be able to have children?' And:
'Why me?'
These were the questions that were running through my mind.
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I wanted to know about what was happening all the way through my treatment, like
what drugs I was having, why I needed a 'Hickman line' inserted and other things.
I wanted to know exactly how the leukaemia and also its treatment was going to
affect me.
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The doctors told me some things, but they didn't like to go too far ahead, so it
was information from CancerBACUP that helped me find out about fertility, and if
my hair would grow back, and if I would start to grow again.
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This is my story, thanks, Robert.
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