“I have always been in youth groups; my mum was a youth group leader. But I got out of it because I aged out of the organisation I was in and couldn’t find youth groups that worked with my own age range. I was doing okay but had just changed schools and wanted to be around people my age – I wasn’t at my lowest but my mental health also wasn’t the best. (Being at Kori) Going to Kent on the first residential and being out of London, seeing different things. It was the first time going out with this group, it was nice! And it was a needed pause from everything I had going on at home. It really helped my mental health – I needed a moment to breathe and not focus on what was going on, it kept me calm, kept me sane and got me out of a place I had been stuck in for a while.
Being around people who have not been out of the city before and getting to see how they enjoyed it – meeting new people was really fun. Whether you are someone who grew up in the suburbs or had it easy or you grew up in a rough area – being around
kids your age and adults who care about your wellbeing, who want you to succeed and want you to thrive – we need this space. Space to be a kid, to learn about new things that you may not learn about in school – like the financial literacy workshop or having the Thanksgiving dinner cooking workshop – being in a space to share what you are grateful for – and being able to be loud about being grateful some people to don’t get to do that – so I thought it was really cool.”
