To say I was shocked was an understatement, 320 people applied for this award and to get to the finals against some amazing other Social Enterprises was a real achievement, but to be then told that I had won, I was absolutely over the moon. To win this award in October 2020 felt like all my hard work had paid off and that I was being recognised for that.
I personally haven’t had an easy ride in life myself and to win this award for providing services to young people who are facing challenges in life is a huge honour. I feel that young people just need some extra support and guidance when accessing and maintaining employment and all I want to do is provide that.
To me it seems so simple, be kind, be understanding and show empathy to young people who are facing a very scary time, with starting out on their journey into adulthood. Some of the young people I meet are not getting the support they need from home or school etc, and they need to know someone cares about them, and I really do.
Now I’m not for one minute giving the care givers a hard time because lets face it we all have difficulties in life which means that we don’t have the extra space within us to help others. But I am passionate about young people, and it’s my mission in life to help as many young people that I can. I want to be the mentor and teacher that I never had growing up.
So winning this award and gaining the finances and support from Scottish Edge along with our current support from the wonderful Firstport, means that we can work towards our goals of opening our second Salon, and scaling up to provide employment and training to lots more young people. Which to be honest with all that is going on in the world it is so nice to have something positive to focus on!
We also have a few other exciting projects in the pipeline, which i will keep you informed about, but in the meantime Stay Safe and keep your eyes peeled for our new and exciting Salon!