Hi everyone,
My name is Sian and I work in housing and youth engagement for YMCA.
Let me start by saying how thankful we are for your sponsorship. You are helping us kick-start the lives of so many vulnerable young people who would otherwise have been left to struggle with a much harsher reality, and for that we are so grateful.
I am writing to introduce a young person called Mark, who came to us after an extremely tough upbringing. We’ll be posting his own personal message soon, but I wanted to give you a bit of background to his story.
Understandably he didn’t go into too much detail about his own past, but I felt it was important for you to be aware of it when reading his posts, so you can see just how far he has come. Mark has given me permission to share this with you, so I hope you don’t mind.
Mark first came to YMCA on an emergency placement after some very traumatic experiences. He was sexually and physically abused by his father up until he left the family home, when Mark was just 5 years old. His mother has been alcohol dependent ever since he was young and this addiction unfortunately meant Mark was neglected from a very young age. Mark told us how his step-father was physically abusive towards them both for many years and his mother put a lot of the blame at his feet for this behaviour. She eventually kicked Mark out of the house. It was difficult for us to hear about Mark’s past, especially as his pain was caused by the adults in his life whom he should have been able to trust and depend on most.
Soon you’ll hear from Mark himself. He’s a very bright young man who looks at the hand life has dealt him and wants to use it to help and support others. Mark is very committed to getting his life back on track and we thank you for being part of his healing – and for giving him the chance to rebuild a better life for himself.
With my best wishes,
Sian
some young people have some very tough starts in life, you are all doing a great job, marks start in life sounded very harsh, heart breaking i have donated before and i will do again pretty soon