At the Zurich Community Trust Conference 2010, attendees were privileged to hear 23 year old Katey England speak of her difficult childhood and the dramatic difference that The Prince's Trust Team programme has made to her life. Katey is one of 9,500 young people a year who go on the charity's 12 week development Team programme and is definitely one of their success stories, winning this year's L'Oreal Paris Young Achiever of the Year award.
Just hours before The Prince's Trust annual Celebrate Success Awards, Katy was granted a rare opportunity to interview Cheryl Cole who was presenting at the ceremony. So what happened when Katey met Cheryl? Read the full article in Marie Claire magazine by clicking here. Here's a snippet or two:
From the age of 17, Katey was in and out of psychiatric hospital, making it difficult for her to complete her A levels. "I'd never had the strength to finish anything", she tells Cheryl. Things got so bad, she says "there were times when I just thought I'd be better off dead."
Katey approached The Prince's Trust first when she was 20 and it was during the Trust's 12 week self-development programme (Team) that she first opened up about her childhood abuse. "I couldn't talk about it before," she says. "Then one day when I was with one of the social workers* it all just came out. It was a massive release."
With tears in her eyes, Cheryl is choked for words. "It's just amazing what you have managed to achieve," she tells Katey.
During her time with The Prince's Trust, Katey worked on community projects such as redecorating a tunnel that had been occupied by drug users. "We had no money but I managed to get someone to give us some paint. It was a brilliant feeling when we finished it." The experience gave her the confidence she needed to start volunteering for The Trust, telling her story to other young people and helping out on the same programme she'd done herself. Katey's ambition now is to become a professional youth worker: "It's just about getting the qualifications and keeping up the motivation."
Our partnership
- The Prince's Trust is one of Zurich Community Trust's key partners on our Young People's Mental Health Programme.
- *Katey talked about opening up to one of the social workers. It is just this aspect of the Team programme that our funding has added a new dimension to, with the 'Working for Wellbeing' project.
