Former King's Trust Student Shares Her Successes at Festival of Inclusion

Skye and her mentor Owen

Castleford College Alumni Skye Mann spoke at the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group’s Festival of Inclusion, sharing her experience of The King’s Trust Team Programme and her following successes, including being invited to Buckingham Palace as a guest of honour for the King's Trust’s 50th anniversary event.

Held at Castleford College, the Group’s Festival of Inclusion brought together colleagues from Wakefield College, Selby College and Castleford College for a day of inspiring speakers and discussions around belonging, inclusion, disability awareness, advocacy and more.

One of the day's closing speakers, Skye Mann, shared her experience of Castleford College's King's Trust Team Programme and her achievements following this.

Skye joined the King's Trust Team Programme - a 12-week course which gives young people the opportunity to develop skills for employment and further education – following a recommendation from a career advisor at a previous college.

In the years preceding, Skye had dealt with her share of challenges, including family bereavements and mental health issues, and was feeling at a loss after a course at another college didn't work out.

During her time on the King's Trust programme, she built strong relationships with her course mates and found herself naturally taking on a leadership role in the group, often helping others throughout the course.

Another standout theme in Skye's speech was her relationship with Owen, her King's Trust mentor at Castleford College, and she highlighted the ways in which Owen helped her to grow in confidence, find tools to improve her mental health and take on new challenges.

She was later invited to work directly with the King's Trust to share her own experiences and provide her input into the development of their curriculum. After speaking in particular about how Owen and the team had helped with her mental health, Skye was also given the opportunity to meet with Nathalie Hayes, Insight and Impact Manager at the King’s Trust, and contribute to her research into how the King’s Trust can support with mental health in young people.

Thanks to her contributions, Skye was invited to be a special guest at The King's Trust's 50th anniversary celebration at Buckingham Palace.

Skye plans to continue building on the leadership skills she developed through the King's Trust and various other volunteering projects including the eight years she spent in Girlguiding working with children, young adults and young people with SEND.

She is now working towards a Level 3 youth working qualification with the Youth Association, and she intends to continue working to help other people; her dream is to eventually open a mental health unit even bigger than CAMHS. She said: 

"If I can help people that are going through similar stuff to me, that's what I want to do in life."

Skye' s future is looking bright, thanks to all her hard work and a bit of support from Owen and The King's Trust.

The King's Trust Team Programme is a 12-week programme for young people aged 16-25, which includes a four-day residential trip, three weeks working on a community project and time spent volunteering. Recent projects have included a church renovation to create a venue for a youth group and students visiting care home residents over the Christmas period.

According to Owen, the 12 weeks spent on this course can be a lifeline for people like Skye, and students invariably leave feeling more resilient, with more clarity on what to do next, and feeling more ready for work or further study.

Castleford College and Wakefield College are both King's Trust delivery partners. Young people can apply for the course via our website, and there are no qualifications needed to join the programme.

Tags