With so many  things relating to the welfare of young people going on in Croydon at the moment we were spoilt for choice this week as to what events we could attend.

Centre of Change sent a representive to “It Takes a Village” conference in Croydon Park Hotel, organised and hosted by Councillor Alisa Flemming. The event brought together a range of organisations from the community and voluntary sectors, charities, faith groups, schools, as well as the local council, to engage in a ‘BIG CONVERSATION’ focused on working together to enhance the services to children and young people

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I’m Diane and I’m an experienced English teacher. I have extensive experience of working in a range of schools in the Croydon and Bromley boroughs.

I am an English tutor for the service  and I have been a part of the organisation since 2008. I joined the team as a volunteer tutor, providing literacy and numeracy support to a range of children. My passion is educating and training.

When I set up the tutoring facility in 2010, it was in response to requests from local parents whose children had attended counselling or some of the sporting activities we had run over the previous two years. It was immediately popular, particularly with families in the Fieldway area, where we were based at the time. The majority of young people who came to us were primary pupils struggling with school work and  lacking confidence in their educational abilities. With small group sessions, these struggles soon became succeses, and we have been privileged to see the way many of these children blossomed and grew to love learning.

When we relocated to the Central Parade area of New Addington we recognised a changing clientele and had to adapt the service to meet the need of children and parents. We found we were getting enquiries from many parents of secondary children, right the way up to GCSE. We had to make the decision to limit our sessions to KS3 and KS4 pupils. We have also had to recruit a maths and science specialist – Sarah – as teaching to this level requires excellent subject knowledge.

Our vision is to see the tutoring service grow to accommodate, not only more pupils at the crucial KS3 and KS4 levels, but also the younger children – KS2 and even KS1, as we still get many requests from parents of these little ones.

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I set up this organisation because I have a real passion for helping those in need, those who are deprived and disadvantaged. I am going to describe to you my journey that helped me achieve this success.

About twenty five years ago, while I was working for the local government, the first seedlings of building a safe place, a service for individuals experiencing difficult or traumatic times, began to germinate.  I have always had a deep desire to facilitate the well being of others, and this quality has meant that my working life has been predominantly spent in the caring profession, such as nursing and careers development. After years of working for other people, not really focusing on  my life goals and ambitions, I was suddenly made redundant from the local government.

Shortly afterwards another door opened…

I began volunteering for Victim Support in Croydon as a support care worker and before long I was able to enrol onto a training programme enabling me to work with sexually abused clients. Working alongside these clients allowed me to expand my knowledge and develop my skills, I was now inspired to develop my mission and fulfil my dreams. The road ahead wasn’t an easy one and I juggled training as a counsellor whilst volunteering for an organisation helping young people with very complex issues. Over the years, my counselling training allowed me to experience first hand, the transformation of lives that had one been shattered by sexual abuse. I  branched out into different areas to broaden my horizons, working at other organisations that gave me an insight into other areas, including bereavement work.

Having acquired all this knowledge and new skills I knew it was time for me to spread my wings and take a risk! With encouragement and support from family and friends, I took the plunge and Centre of Change Project was born. With the aid of a diverse management committee, the service has flourished and grown. My initial aim was to offer Counselling, Information and Advice to young people and their families. The objectives have since been expanded, tweaked and refined over time as I have further understood the need of the local community that the Project serves.

Many of those who use the services are young vulnerable people within the community, those who are excluded from school or at risk of exclusion as well as those who are known to the criminal justice service as young offenders. It was working with these section of young people that inspired me t complete a degree in criminology; it gives a deep insight into how the Criminal Justice System works and allows me to be more effective as a counsellor.

The Centre of Change Project was officially opened in 2010 by the mayor of Croydon. It has been a long hard struggle for the project over the years, but slowly and surely it has gone from strength to strength.  We have organised and carried out numerous fundraising events and activities, to keep the project alive.  We also received a small amount of funding from Croydon Council but we are still deeply in need of further help.

Because of its uniqueness, there is a great demand for our services. Our doors have been opened to large numbers of the Croydon community. When we first started out I was the only counsellor, but now there are eight other Counsellors, Mentors, and three Tutors. We also have an over whelming amount of enquiries each month from volunteers.

In 2013, I was Awarded Winner of the Civic Life-Time Achievement.  I think it’s fair to say that for me this has been an achievement of a lifetime. I have achieved my dreams and embarked on a wonderful adventure along the way.

Thanks for reading my story and don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Twitter pages!

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