Ben’s Story

In Autumn 2019, Ben was referred to our ID Plus programme via his Connexions worker who stated on the form that he had not been in school for four years and hardly ever went out of his room, in which he mainly played on his X-Box.

His only trips out were with his Mum and Nan to a local shopping centre. He regularly experienced huge anxiety, low self-esteem and had a very negative outlook. Even though Ben was highly anxious and hadn’t been out without his close family for a long time, he successfully attended his first day – and then turned out to be our best attendee with 100% attendance! He had a penchant for reading and was clearly a very bright boy who had achieved his main GCSEs even though he had missed a lot of school. Ben got involved with all the games, team problem-solving activities and engaged well in our personal development sessions. He was very good at reflecting and feeding back answers; initially this needed prompting but as the programme progressed he gained confidence and shared his thoughts more willingly.

Ben is very personable and made friends quickly in the group, mainly via playing cards! We encouraged Ben to look at his life through a more positive lens and helped him to see a way forward post ID Plus, through career exploration sessions. He wants to go into accountancy in the long term.

Ben is quietly determined and often stepped out of his comfort zone, thereby increasing his self-confidence and motivation exponentially. He took part in our trips out – bowling and the local golf driving range, and enjoyed being with others in the group. He has so much potential and we are delighted with Ben’s personal progression within the programme!