Case Study – E

E was referred to Future Roots 10 yrs ago by her school when she was 13, she was on the edge of exclusion and before she could start at the farm she became dual registered with a learning centre. She had previously had many exclusions from primary school.

E found the school environment difficult to manage she was bright but had been left to her own devices at home and found school restrictive and alien to her.

Instead of asking for help with subjects she would put defenses up and get into fight or flight mode.

E could be a challenge because her vocabulary was blunt and she would say how she felt with no inhibitions as to what the message would land like.

E was offered the farm because she was known to like horses but she actually liked all animals. On arrival E was suspicious of the mentors and inquisitive why we would allow her on the farm with her reputation. She was happy to be part of the farm environment but would be quite challenging around anything that wasn’t animal related. You could see she was very bright from the work she did but that also she could get confused with conversation it wasn’t straight forward. E went through running away from home, not attending for short periods and being a times disruptive in sessions of large groups. E could be very complicated to work with, she was very unhappy and frustrated with herself.

E stayed for 4 years at the farm and she became an ambassador and a young leader she was amazing with young people with special needs and with the animals always helpful and would do any task. She made a friend at the farm and they remain in contact to this day, they have shared family and experiences E being a bridesmaid for her a few years ago.

She left the farm and went to college something she never thought she could cope with. She did an equestrian course followed by an agriculture course followed buy an apprenticeship on a farm. All the while keeping in contact and coming back to volunteer in the holidays.

E is now 23 and has a 2 year old son and she is working as a nursing assistant in a hospital, she wants to become a nurse and so she has returned to do her functional skills… There have been some ups and downs along her journey, but she is a young person to be proud of and would help anyone.

E has said that she wouldn’t be where she is today without us and we are a second family but actually we know she is where she is because she has determination and spirit. What we did was develop resilience and belief in herself.