Case Studies

Colleen (Cranstoun Skills for Life)

The world of work was scary place for Colleen, particularly as she had never worked before and was unsure of what career path to take. Colleen engaged with the Cranstoun Skills for life programme regularly over 4 months, attending pre-employment workshops, social groups and worked on a one to one basis with her advisor searching for courses. Due to personal family problems Colleen left the programme earlier then expected, as she needed time away to reflect and resolve her problems. Project staff regularly telephoned and wrote to Colleen, updating her programme changes, new courses/activities and general well being.

By June 2010 Colleen contacted the programme and continued engaging. She is currently attending a creative writing course, drug free and has developed a good network of college friends.

Zeeshan (Cranstoun Skills for Life)

Zeeshan has been engaging with treatment services for over 10 years, from rehabilitation centres, supported housing to community services. Zeeshan successfully completed in treatment in May 2008 and continues being drug free today. The determination, hard work, and effort paid off and provided Zeeshan with the experience to challenge himself in moving away from drugs and work towards a positive future. By this stage Zeeshan gained the self confidence, motivation & interpersonal skills, to access a specialised training service.

When he attended the Cranstoun S4L programme, he was unsure what he would like to do. As a child he was fascinated with train sets and had fond memories of visiting the transport museum in London. Zeeshan was advised to attend weekly one to one, pre-employment, ICT and Literacy workshops, active use of interpersonal skills, develop & maintain motivation, as part of a structured programme.

By 6-7 weeks Zeeshan successfully completed OCR examinations and was ready to enrol on to transport for London training course to become a train driver. Zeeshan is currently completing a train driver's course with TFL, and looking forward to securing paid employment. Zeeshan journey has taught him the importance of taking responsibility and leading change to reap the benefits of a rewarding lifestyle.

Pirbright: A Day in The Life of …(Cranstoun Positive Futures, Young people's service)

This case study describes a typical day of young people's involvement in Pirbright, from the time they meet to the activities they carry out, and then their journey home and feedback about the day, and their likes and dislikes of the day.

This case study is a story of young people's reaction to their day at Pirbright. (Daniel) is a 14-year-old lad who lives on a housing estate with his mum, dad and two siblings. Both parents are unemployed; both siblings are in primary school. There is a lot of pressure on (Daniel). It is a cold, wet Tuesday morning at approximately 7.30am. (Daniel) receives a phone call from his Cranstoun Positive Futures youth worker to remind him that he will be attending Army Team-Building Day that day.

(Daniel) has reservations as he believes the Army is about violence, so he is reluctant to go, but is prepared to give it a try. He meets up with his youth worker and some of his peers. They make their way to the meeting point and join the rest of the young people on the coach. On the journey (Daniel) seems very quiet and he is not engaging in any conversation.
Once they arrive at Pirbright, (Daniel) sees his first soldier in uniform at the main gate. At this point he wants to go home, but is encouraged to stay. Once he gets off the coach, he meets up with the soldiers who will be teaching him that day. After a brief introduction from the soldiers in charge, (Daniel) and his peers are given combat clothing and boots. This is the first time that (Daniel) starts to open up. He is then sent to join a group which are doing command tasks. Initially, (Daniel) stood back from this activity, but from out of the blue he started to show leadership qualities. He took the group under his wing and started to organise activity. He delegated roles to each person in the group which, for the youth workers, was a major surprise. The feedback from his youth workers was that they could not believe how he had come out of his shell. (Daniel) then started to speak to the soldiers about their history and background, and expressed an interest in maybe joining the Cadets or the Army when he got a little older. This conversation continued throughout luncheon when (Daniel) and his peers prepared their own lunch. This was the first time (Daniel) has ever done any cooking and he really enjoyed it.

In the afternoon we went on to the Assault Course. Again, (Daniel) shocked everyone there as it was common knowledge he had a fear of heights and that at school he would not take part in any physical activity. On the way home, (Daniel) became a different person - very talkative, lively and happy. All he could talk about was that he wanted to go back again and do it maybe for a 24-hour or 4-day course. After speaking to his parents and youth workers, they had nothing but praise for the way that (Daniel) had changed.

What the organisations we work in partnership with say about Cranstoun Positive Futures: the British Army, Safer Neighbourhood Team, Wandsworth Council.

From Student to Potential Soldier Preview (Cranstoun Positive Futures, Young people's service)

This describes a story of Nadine Joseph. Nadine is a mixed-race young lady, single-parented family with three siblings.

Nadine has grown up in Roehampton; went to Elliott Secondary School; left with very good qualifications.
Nadine is currently studying at Loughborough University. During the summer of 2010, Nadine was home on leave from university and was referred to Cranstoun Positive Futures, Girls-Only Army Team Building Day. Her referral came from Roehampton SNT/Regenerate. So on 31 August 2010, Cranstoun Positive Futures' youth worker met her in Roehampton at 08.00 along with 30 other young females, with some being of Muslim religion. On the coach journey, the youth worker had a long conversation with Nadine who expressed an interest in joining the British Armed Services. During their conversation, it came to light that her father was a member of the British Army and Nadine would like to follow in her father's footsteps.

Throughout the day, Cranstoun Positive Futures' youth worker made a point of making sure Nadine engaged and spoke to female soldiers who were with them on the day and for them to talk about their careers as soldiers. Nadine also stated that she was willing to take a year out of university so that she could explore this new, potential avenue.

Cranstoun Positive Futures' youth worker met up with her three days later when they went to the Army Careers Office in Croydon to explore her options. As she is at university, it was recommended that she joins the Territorial Army as she could then do officer training and continue at university - or she could join the Army College in Wei beck which is for potential officers. Nadine has decided to join the Territorial Army as an insight to British army life and is currently going through her recruitment process at Sandhurst.

Nadine is hopeful to join the Regular full-time Army, once she has finished her degree in two years' time.

What the organisations we work in partnership with say about Cranstoun Positive Futures: the British Army, Safer Neighbourhood Team, Wandsworth Council.