Lydia’s story

Lydia took part on a Grit programme in west London in 2002. 

Lydia spent much of her early life in west London living with her grandad. Her mum, an alcoholic and drug addict, was continually in and out of prison. When Lydia turned 11 her mum found a place in a hostel and were finally able to share a home. 

It was around this time that Lydia was stabbed for the first time. They managed to carry on together for a while but then Mum first had an accident and, after, went missing. Now, at the age of 15, Lydia was homeless, sofa surfing with friends and family. Life was falling apart and she was terrified of ending up like her mum.

It was then that Lydia came across Grit. She was not impressed.

It seemed that ‘all the other young people were ex-cons and criminals. Not like me at all.’ She reluctantly started the programme but it was a constant battle to keep going – she didn’t see the point of it, kept thinking ‘I might as well just leave.’ She resisted, resisted and resisted.

And then gradually she started ‘stripping back the layers to get to my true self,’ began to discover who she really was. As she shared her story she could feel the wounds beginning to heal. It was hard, she had to dig deep, but eventually she felt a shift, a change in the way she looked at herself, at how she looked at the world. ‘I had a blockage of negative thought conceptions and experiences and doing the course help me to start again.’

In the months that followed, supported by her committed partner (an adult volunteer coach), Lydia ‘began to rebuild.’ She re-started her life not as someone from a broken home, a victim of circumstance, but as someone in control, living ‘true to myself.’ When the going got tough she stuck with it, kept strong because her committed partner ‘put all that work in,’ cared enough to make all that effort. Grit enabled Lydia to stop repeating the mistakes of the past, to break those cycles of destructive behaviour.

At 16 Lydia had found her own flat, a flat she still lives in over 15 years later. She still speaks with her committed partner regularly, Grit is still with her, gives her the resilience to battle on.  At 21, she had life threatening injuries from being stabbed a second time but she was able to bounce back again: ‘When I saw the scar I said I will not let this define me.’ She has two ‘strong, confident and independent’ children, is engaged to her long-term partner and has a great job. Life is good.

And now she’s come back to Grit – this time as part of our team of trainers. ‘Grit did so much for me. It really changed my life. I want to help change other young people’s lives.’