Kerra starts youth work qualification with placement at Bridges Project

Kerra Stewart, one of Bridges Project’s Young Ambassadors, Listening Peers Mentors and previous clients, has embarked on a Personal Development Award in Youth Work. The costs are covered by Bridges Project and Kerra will also be doing her placement with the charity.

“I’m very grateful. Youth work is something I have been interested in for a while and it’s something I have been inspired to get into after being at Bridges Project,” said Kerra.

The youth work qualification, delivered by Edinburgh College, will take 40 weeks to complete and includes a placement. When deciding where to do this, there was only one natural choice for Kerra: Bridges Project.

Through her placement, she will work closely with Bridges Project staff on areas such as assessment methods, learning styles and youth engagement. She will be particularly involved with helping out with the charity’s Group Programme.

Her placement is a full circle moment for the 18-year-old, two years after she herself started receiving support from the charity.

“I was struggling with school at the time. I had just been off for five months with Covid-19 and long Covid and had missed a lot of school work. The fact that I’m dyslexic as well made it even more difficult,” said the former Musselburgh Grammar School student.

Kerra was allocated to Mhairi Kiernan, who was Bridges Project’s Employability Support Worker at the time. Mhairi helped Kerra get back on track with her school work and prepare for her exams.

Kerra’s school situation improved quickly, and she won an award for National 4 English after just a few months of working with Mhairi.

“Mhairi really helped me become more confident within myself,” said Kerra.

The Musselburgh teenager decided she wanted to give back to Bridges Project and in 2023, she signed up to become a Young Ambassador and Listening Peers Mentor with the charity. Kerra has become a central member of both teams and is particularly prolific with her mentoring.

The 18-year-old is currently mentoring three Mentees through the Listening Peers programme, helping them open up, reduce their social isolation and build up their confidence.

Some of her Mentees have experienced considerable trauma in their lives but they have all still made significant progress with Kerra’s support. One of them does not speak to any other adults but speaks to Kerra and another Mentee has even moved on to become a Mentor herself.

Despite her excellent track record, the 18-year-old is humble about her mentoring abilities.

“I’m just happy I can help and it doesn’t really feel like I’m helping out. I just think I’m having a nice chat!” said Kerra.

She does, however, recognise her own personal growth since she started engaging with Bridges Project.

“Before, I would never talk to people I didn’t know. Now I do that with Mentees. I’m proud of the progress I have made,” said the Listening Peers Mentor.

Joe Ramsey, Principal Teacher of Guidance at Musselburgh Grammar School, also said her former student should be ‘very proud of her accomplishments’.

“Her perseverance and determination were always prevalent and her positivity shone through on a daily basis. It is lovely to see that she is so keen to share her journey whilst helping others,” she said.

‘An inspiration to both staff and young people’

Bridges Project’s CEO, Emma Scarcliffe, called Kerra ‘an inspiration to both staff and young people’ at Bridges Project.

“There is no doubt in my mind that Kerra will be an incredible youth worker one day and, to be honest, she already is in her mentoring role,” she said.

Emma continued:

“We’re committed to supporting young people to follow their dreams and aspirations and it was therefore an easy decision to invest in helping Kerra attend college to further her youth work knowledge and experience as well as gaining the accreditation. We’re all immensely proud of Kerra, love having her as part of the Bridges team and hope to employ her as one of our dedicated staff team members in the future.”

Neil Maclean, who supervises Kerra as the Listening Peers Coordinator and who will also supervise her during her placement at Bridges Project, is pleased that the charity is able to cover the costs of Kerra’s youth work qualification.

“I’m really happy for Kerra. It’s a testament to her and it’s also great that we want to invest in young people to that level,” said Neil.

He praises the work she has already done with young people.

“Mentoring can be incredibly daunting, a bit like a baptism of fire sometimes. However, Kerra has taken all tasks wholeheartedly on board. She has even supported other Mentors and stepped in at short notice for them to support their Mentees. Her improvisational skills are incredible. The lives of the young people she has mentored have genuinely changed,” said Neil.

The Listening Peers Coordinator is confident Kerra will become a great youth worker:

“She has the right personality and characteristics. The youth work sector suits her very well. I have 100% faith in her.”