I wanted to work with young people to allow them to make positive choices which will help them in life

Mifta Choudhury

22/07/2013

I joined User Voice almost 11 months ago working on the Youth Programmes. I deliver the Youth Councils and Advisory Group projects across London and also support staff on the adult community side with Peer Mentoring.

User Voice is unique because of the staff who work here and the holistic support it gives to service users.

I spent the best part of my life in prison. One of the things that I saw was that people kept coming back; I saw people who got out of prison after being inside for two or three years and down the line I would bump into them again, I would think to myself why have they come back into prison?

When we had a catch up and a chat I would ask them about why they were back in prison and they would tell me that they had no help or support outside once they had left jail, they were back on streets doing what they had to do to survive… I remember the same people saying to me, I’m not coming back to jail! In the end it was thanks to those people that I decided to get an education while I was in prison.

I decided that I wanted to work with young people to help them, to support and guide them and allow them to make positive choice’s which will help them in life.  It’s not my job to impose my values or beliefs on the young people I work with, but I use my learning experiences to inspire these young people onto a better future.

I find that the young people I work with at User Voice are innovative, resilient and passionate about making change, once you get to know them!  They see you for who you are and once you have built the relationship with them you get to see this passion and drive. We have some great conversations and other times we have a really good laugh!

The young people I've been working with are now the leaders of their Youth Council/Advisory Groups, and now being accredited as Peer Mentors. They have learned to manage and balance their life to extent where they now turn up for meetings on time and can commit themselves to helping to change local services and the community and look at life in a different way. 

I don’t think this is just down to me; it is by the young people learning, adapting and by having absolute consistency from User Voice staff who provide a holistic, caring approach to working with these young people.