Teenager Lisa from Gosport had problems with school. She felt angry and isolated, frequently played truant and was facing permanent exclusion. Although she was interested in a career in childcare, her chances of success looked slight.

The YNOT programme, run by Learning Links (Southern) Ltd and financed by the European Social Fund through the Learning and Skills Council helped set her on a more positive track. It started with one-to-one mentoring sessions with her key worker, where Lisa could voice her feelings and talk about her experiences and ambitions. Her school allowed her to work from home with private tutoring to improve her literacy and numeracy skills. Lisa also took full advantage of the YNOT activity week which involved new challenges, team building and discussions about the future. Lisa soon proved herself to be a natural leader and made plenty of new friends.

She is now working towards her first qualifications and aims to study childcare at college after completing a work experience placement at a local nursery. The Deputy Head at her school remarked: ‘Lisa has done more work in two weeks than she had done in two years in the classroom.’ 

Looking back, Lisa can now recognise her achievements: "Learning Links helps those kids who can’t cope with school to still get an education and a chance to achieve their dreams. It’s really helped me and my family and, if it can help us, it could help anyone."