Fatima* aged 11 is a young carer who was referred to Go Beyond by her support worker. Fatima has a sibling with high dependency and has to support her Mum at home with cooking, cleaning, medication, shopping and also providing sibling support at home in the form of playing and offering calming support when things are very difficult. Fatima has sadly also had to deal with a worrying family illness and this has led to severe anxiety and a reluctance to leave home or her family situation.
On arrival at Go Beyond, Fatima* was extremely anxious to be away from home. It was the following day that she slowly started to come out of her shell when the group went abseiling. One of the Break Leaders noticed that Fatima started to offer support and encouragement to others in the group, and by the end of the session she was laughing and smiling along with everyone else and making new friends. Later in the week Fatima enjoyed river rafting and commented that she was surprised she had the confidence to do it. A Break Leader commented at the end of the week – “Fatima* is returning home a much more confident, bubbly young lady, compared to the one she arrived at Go Beyond as”.
*Names and images have been changed to protect identities.
