When it isn't going right, go left

By Stephen Palmer

Hi my name’s Stephen Palmer and I work with the Skill Mill. I got introduced to the Skill Mill when I was at school. I got into trouble and I was on reparation, and Sean had come along one day and must have been watching me and my Op. Worker (Youth Offending Team worker,) said, “there’s a little program going on called the Skill Mill we’ve recently opened up would you like to join?” I said "I may as well for when I leave school."

So I joined, left school. But before I left school I had problems in my house, asking for money off my Nana, always being a little…y’know.

Once I got into the Skill Mill, give it a month and a half and I started feeling proud of myself, because I had a job, because when my parents were my age them didn’t have a job. Sixteen years old, they were in jail. But really it give’s us a lot of confidence since I’ve been here. It motivates us to get out of bed in the morning, it passes my time, I don’t need to get into trouble any more. I have my weekly wage I don’t need to spraff off me Nana or anything.

It does really really help everyone a lot, especially with the people I work with. They give us motivation and all of them learn us new skills or they improve the ones I’ve got now. It has, it’s been a massive change for us and I really enjoy doing it.