Enabling young people to flourish in their community

ESTEEM – Empowerment, Support, Training, Experience, Environment, Support.

Cat Vizor has been Chief Officer at ESTEEM for over ten years. Based in Shoreham, ESTEEM provides vocational and wellbeing support for 14-26 year olds across Sussex. Since opening they have grown to work with more than 500 young adults from across the region.

ESTEEM is unique in providing both paid and volunteer roles within the charity. Young adults are able to build confidence in a safe and encouraging environment where they can identify life goals and passions. 70% of young people find jobs through family connections in the UK, creating a real barrier for those without family support. ESTEEM’s Mentor Me programme instead helps young adults to find employment through local networks. Mentors also support them in creating CV’s, applying for jobs and preparing for interviews.

Alongside this work, ESTEEM provides wellbeing support. Mental health is a huge barrier for young adults who are struggling to engage meaningfully in society. Using counselling and coaching programmes, ESTEEM supports young adults to develop resilience and tools to overcome adversity.

Cat Vizor explains, “We are a small but energetic team who put our heart and soul into working with young adults to achieve their dreams. ESTEEM is all about creating a family feel where people feel they belong. With support young adults feel motivated to take part in life-changing opportunities or develop their own projects within ESTEEM. There have been some great success stories, and we hope to be the catalyst for many others across the county.

The last six months has been a testing time for the charity, with many participants needing more support than ever. We saw a seven-fold increase in safeguarding referrals from our youth work team – concerned about people living in high-risk situations. This wellbeing crisis included issues such as unsecure accommodation, a lack of income and worsening mental health.

As a team we worked hard to ensure young adults were as safe as possible. We had to adapt quickly and took on new challenges, such as delivering meals and food parcels.

As the long term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic start to bite, with unemployment and isolation on the rise we expect to see an increase in need for our services. Until now we have been fortunate in securing short-term grant funding, however in the current climate, we recognise this is not a stable source of income. We would love to speak to local people and businesses to see how they can get involved in helping ESTEEM support the next generation to thrive in their community.”

To read more about ESTEEM head to their website www.esteem.org.uk or find them on Facebook https://en-gb.facebook.com/esteemuk
and Twitter https://twitter.com/esteemcharity?lang=en. You can also email us: hello@esteem.org.uk to see the many ways you can support us.

ESTEEM  reg. charity no. 1187128

01273 091511
hello@esteem.org.uk
https://esteem.org.uk/