Aziz*, now 24 years old, lives in his own home after successfully securing a role at The Ministry of Defence in Cyber Security and accessing the Housing Fund to secure a rental deposit. Here, he explains his journey to this success:

I left home after experiencing abuse from my step-father who lived with us at the time. It was a really awful situation; I had lost all of my confidence and motivation and ended up having to leave the University that I had just got a place at. I just couldn’t cope.

When I arrived at [my local EveryYouth charity] the Amber Foundation I was very nervous and apprehensive. I quickly realised that I was unprepared for life. I didn’t know how to look after myself properly and relied heavily on guidance from the staff.

“If it wasn’t for Amber I wouldn’t have made it.”

After settling in, I started to learn valuable life skills and enjoyed being part of a community again. I learnt how to talk and communicate with people, how to cook and took part in workshops focusing on things such as council tax and opening up a bank account. All of this has helped me to become more confident in myself again and ready for life.

After that, I felt ready to focus on my future. With some support from staff, I decided to apply for a job at the Ministry of Defence. Computer Programming has always been a passion and hobby of mine so I thought I would apply for a job that focused on research and development and a position came up in cyber security. It was a really long interview process but I finally got the job offer.

I can’t wait to start, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I am really looking forward to the next chapter in my life and I feel ready to move on and to live independently. I have accessed EveryYouth’s Housing Fund too which has really helped me.

Find out more about how we support other young people like Aziz with our Housing Fund.

*Name has been changed to protect their identity.