Eve’s Story
Life has never been easy for Eve*. Since birth, she has experienced domestic violence and neglect, resulting in a turbulent childhood for her and her siblings, in and out of foster care. As if things weren’t hard enough, Eve suffered a bereavement last year when she lost a parent, making the festive season feel harder than ever. Eve needed a Christmas miracle, and her social worker turned to Go Beyond for help…
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When Eve arrived at Go Beyond she was an angry and hurting little girl. At school, Eve had struggled to make friends: they simply couldn’t understand what she had been through, and it wasn’t fair. In the first few days of Eve’s break she did not integrate with the rest of the group, and her default response was to be very defensive. That was until a conversation with one of the break leaders…
As soon as Eve felt she was being listened to, without judgement, her attitude changed. Eve realised that she was in a safe space; she did not have to be the ‘tough’ child everyone had previously expected her to be, and began to open up. Together with the break leaders, Eve formed ideas on coping strategies to deal with her emotions in the week going forward.
“We showed her she was cared for, and gave her space to be herself.” – A break leader
Slowly but surely, Eve let her walls down, showing the sweet and kind-hearted girl she is inside. Huddled around the fire pit, sharing the excitement of toasting marshmallows, stargazing, and playing games, Eve began to make friends. She realised that the other kids weren’t so different from her: Nick cared for his mum at home and didn’t have many friends at school either. Holly had spent time living on the streets, but now was living with an amazing foster family like Eve. And Gabriel used to live in Ukraine – he also knew what it felt like to have your world turned upside down.
As the week went by, the group really bonded. Not just over their shared struggles, but over the amazing memories they were creating together as they conquered the climbing wall, whizzed around the ice-skating rink, and cheered along at the pantomine. As Eve’s confidence and self-esteem grew, her natural leadership skills began to shine through too. She jumped at the opportunity to help make the special Christmas roast, expressing that it was her dream to become a professional chef one day. Eve absolutely loved getting to spend time in a proper kitchen and by the end of it was even dishing out instructions to our resident cook. The group ate by candlelight, telling cracker jokes and delighting in the delicious meal that filled their little tummies.
On their last morning, the children came down to a trail of snowy footprints leading to personalised stockings hung above a fireplace. Eve couldn’t believe her eyes – she’d never believed in Santa… until now. Eve and her friends squealed in delight as they raced to see what awaited them in the brightly wrapped parcels.
“I don’t usually get presents from Santa, but this is something special” – A Go Beyond child.
It seemed that Christmas magic really did exist at Go Beyond.
Eve was delighted with her gift, but thanks to a week of emotional and physical freedom from the challenges she faces at home, Eve was able to find something even more valuable – hope. The lessons she learned and memories she made will last Eve a lifetime, and she knows now it is possible to go beyond anything that stands between her and the brightest future imaginable.
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*Children’s names and some of their story details have been changed to protect their identities.
