A caring young woman who turned her life around on an employment scheme is going inspire others to follow in her footsteps.
Sabrina Rafferty, 19, from Gwersyllt, a care practitioner at Hillbury House care home at Pendine Park care organisation, has become a Young Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.
She started working at Pendine Park after completing The ‘Truth about Youth – Who Cares?’ programme, funded by The Co-operative Foundation.
The course was run by The Prince’s Trust in partnership with Pendine Park’s training arm, Smartcare.
Sabrina is one of 14 young people aged between18 and 25 who gained experience and qualifications in the care industry with the aim of helping them onto the first rung of employment ladder. She is one of four who were given jobs at Pendine Park.
According to Sabrina, The Prince’s Trust course has made a huge difference to her life.
She said: “It’s been an amazing experience. It’s like a big family here, and it’s helped me to see my future, which is working in social care. I didn’t see a future for myself before but now I do. I was unemployed for six months. It was boring and I just felt useless all of the time.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting other young people as a Young Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and telling them my story because a lot of them will be in situation similar to the one that I was in. I’m excited about it.
“I’ve gained a lot of confidence working at Pendine Park, and I’m always learning new things. You get a lot of support from the senior members of staff here. They explain to you how to do things and reassure you.
“I love the residents at Pendine Park. I love the conversations with them. I like singing with them as well. It’s important to know about their needs. We treat people like individuals and we do what makes them happy. It’s part of Pendine Park’s enrichment programme. Doing the little things is important. Every day here is different.
The Prince’s Trust supports 3,500 young people in Wales each year through its programmes. Three in four young people supported by The Trust move into work, education or training.
Philippa Davies, Get Into Programme Executive at The Prince’s Trust Cymru, added: “I’m just so proud of Sabrina because of what she’s achieved. For us she is the perfect Ambassador because she turned her life around by doing so well and she will be inspiring others to do the same.
“Sabrina will be meeting people and telling them her story on open days.
“Young people can look at her and see what’s possible and organisations can see what Pendine Park has done and get involved as well.”
Pendine Park resident, Bob Andrew, 96, said: “Sabrina is very pleasant and is always smiling, and I think that helped her get a job at Pendine Park. She’s positive and that’s definitely an asset.”
Joyce Williams, health and social care trainer for Smartcare, added: “Sabrina has worked so hard, and she’s a credit to herself, to Pendine Park and to The Prince’s Trust. She’s always smiling and the residents at Pendine Park definitely appreciate it.
“We had a great bunch here from The Prince’s Trust programme and it was lovely working with them. We’ve had people here who have never been given a chance, some of them are homeless. It was brilliant to see the smiles and the sense of achievement they got from the course. It gives them a sense of pride.”
