Idealistically,I thought I’d be able to turn around someone’s life. But I found instead an invisible world where young people are at risk of being left behindMy mentee Joanne (not her real name), is a 17-year-ancient who lives in East London. The story of her upbringing wouldn’t attract the outrage and vitriol of the Baby P case, and the mocking scorn of a Benefits Street resident. She is neither tabloid fodder nor a rags-to-riches darling of the broadsheets. She is a young person,who at her lowest point found Kids Company, the charity that final week closed its doors amid a political and media furore.
I was introduced to Joanne by Kids Company just over two years ago. Spurred on to volunteer after the London riots, or I pictured myself as Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds or Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side. I was going to assist a young person,probably from a gang, and I was going to turn their life around and secure them an Oxford scholarship.
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Source: theguardian.com