“Graduating in general is always a difficult thing- the realisation that you are plunged into the working world and expected to find work is scary. Now add in the extra element of a global pandemic, any and all prospects are gone. My plan before the pandemic was to graduate and try to absorb as much practical experience as I could, this was not the case. I came home and started working in an ice cream parlour and then in a caring company- both of which was never my intent or ambition, but I needed to support myself, so it got me by. As the months went by, I could feel myself starting to really lose all hope of ever getting the chance to work in a creative environment and I felt ashamed to reach out and talk to those who knew me best and would understand- Sparc.

I didn’t know of the Powerful Intervention Production Assistant role until Alan emailed me and suggested I have a look at it. I briefly knew Alan from volunteering right at the beginning of Together Stronger when we did the Artist Hub in Soar Centre, then I went off to university and we crossed paths again when he invited me to run a workshop at the first Life Hack. To have him email me and suggest I look at this specific role really meant a lot to me that he remembered me and thought of me for this role.

He attended as a young person, became a volunteer, was mentored by youth workers within the project. He had the opportunity to go to Camp America. He developed from a volunteer to a paid member of staff and has been working at the Penyrenglyn project ever since and regularly gets involved in Valleys Kids projects across the organisation. He is passionate about Penyrenglyn, outdoor work in the woods and residential activities in Little Bryn Gwyn, having experienced these himself as a service user when young.