Base Camp young people's stories
Ben's story
Ben was 16 when he first came to Base Camp in Wakefield. Ben’s mum was an alcoholic, being supported by the Wakefield Alcohol Team. The team referred Ben to Base Camp. Having lived in nine different locations and even sleeping rough Ben’s life could certainly be called chaotic.
Ben had recently completed his GCSE's but had not achieved the grades he needed to get into college -at only sixteen Ben felt he had reached a dead end in his life.
Communication at home had completely broken down and he had barely any contact with his father or brother. He spent his time hanging out on the streets where he was staying and had become a very angry young man.
At Base Camp we approached Ben’s role within his family; roles are often turned on their heads when there is an alcoholic in the family.
Developing Ben’s understanding of the situation around him helped to calm his anger towards his family and others. Base Camp helped Ben to develop efficient coping strategies, enabling him to deal with any of the situations he found himself in. Ben was also able to accept that his mums’ drinking is not his fault.
Base Camp staff supported Ben back into education as well as onto other courses such as assertiveness and anger management. Ben plans to start a full time Art & Design course this year and in the meantime is working as a volunteer for an charity, helping to involve young people in their community. Ben has become a sociable and focused young man.
"Since working with Base Camp I have learned to see things in a different way and have become more confident. I can not believe how far I have come, I thought I was headed for a life on the dole, but having someone show me alternative pathways has been fantastic" Ben, 16
Lizzie's story
Lizzie was 14 years old when she was referred to Base Camp by her Family Intervention worker. Lizzie was living with her mum and mum’s partner, both of whom had problems with alcohol. Their drinking was the cause of constant arguments at home.
Base Camp staff went to meet Lizzie at School and completed a series of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions. This enabled Lizzie to explore her feelings and her actions as well as different ways in which she could look and think about things. These sessions really helped Lizzie learn to communicate effectively with others.
Lizzie also attended group sessions at Base Camp. During these sessions Lizzie was able to develop good relationships with other members of the group and build friendships.
Lizzie has progressed so much during her time at Base Camp that she is now using her experiences to help other young people. Lizzie assists in running group sessions for younger children and hopes to begin some volunteer work and training outside of Base Camp.
Lizzie now lives with her Dad and is getting used to his rules whilst keeping a good relationship with her Mum.
“I would recommend Base Camp to other young people because it is fun and helpful and has really helped me with my anger.” Lizzie, 14
Sophia's story
Sophia came to Base Camp when she was 16. She had been referred by a Connexions advisor from the college where she was studying. Sophia was living with her mother, a chronic alcoholic, having been recently asked to leave her fathers’ home where she had been living with her four sisters, father and step-mother.
Sophia had had no other choice when her father asked her to leave but to move back in with her mother. She had had minimal contact with her mother since she was nine due to her mothers’ erratic behaviour and violent outbursts. Sophia attempted to make other adults aware of what was happening but was unable to, as the wealth of her family masked the alcohol abuse going on at home and led to her not being believed.
As soon as Sophia moved in she was forced to take on a caring role for her mother. She would have to put her mother to bed, clean up her mothers’ vomit and make sure there was food in the house. There would regularly be strange people in the house which resulted in Sophia barely sleeping. She began to fall asleep in classes and struggled to complete college work due to the chaos around her.
Base Camp staff assessed Sophia’s needs. We then looked to address her most urgent need, that of finding safe and appropriate accommodation. We worked closely with her father and explored every option to return her to living with her family but unfortunately this could not be achieved. Sophia required a lot of intense support over this time as she had become very depressed; we would see her at least four times a week while we were finding her appropriate housing, tackling other issues such as emotions, anger and helping promote restful sleep.
Through working closely with an external housing agency we found Sophia a suitable home, where she now lives. Sofia was able to carry on with her revision for her AS-levels now that she felt safe, secure and supported. Sophia is now living independently, has achieved outstanding grades in all four of her subjects and is looking forward to another year at college, then a gap year before moving on to university.
‘Base Camp actually listens to me and takes my concerns seriously’ Sophia