Hi, as you all have probably guessed that I’m very nervous. I’m going to start by introducing myself. My name is Carly Covele-Scott. I live in Tonbridge and have been going to the YWCA for the last three years.

I’m going to tell a bit about my lifestyle before I had any sort of help or guidance from YWCA in Tonbridge.

I think the majority of my problems all started when I went to school. From the age of ten, maybe younger, I was badly bullied. To see me now, it’s hard to believe, but this had a major impact on my life and still to this day.

I hated school, hated every morning, knowing I had to get up. By 12 I started going downhill. I had to be independent, not having no-one really around me to help or guide me, so I started fighting back. I turned to drugs: cannabis.

Because of family problems I was left to be mother to my twin brothers. I didn’t get out much any more and never saw my friends. I turned to a mum at the age of nearly thirteen. As much as I hated school that was my only escape.

I was then kicked out of school because I was a problem child by the time I was 14. Everything was going reasonably well. Everyday I would pretend I was alright. But because there was never any help staring you in the face you were left to get on with it.

Then something happened which was worse than everything else that had gone on. As a result I tried to overdose three times in one year. It never worked.

Instead I found a new way to relive the emotional pain I was going through. I self-harmed. To many of you, it’s known as an attention thing, or a cry for help but it wasn’t for me. It was pain relief because I was hurting so much on the inside. When I cut myself the pain on the outside went away. I blamed myself for everything that went wrong in my life and I felt I needed to be punished. It sounds mad and maybe hard for anyone to understand.

As well as self-harming I turned to drink. I could no longer pretend I was alright. The alcohol gave me a boost of confidence to prove to people that I was fine.

The school realised that something wasn’t right. They watched me go downhill then offered me counselling which to this day I was proud to take because it did help me. My school also found out that I had Ehrling syndrome which is a worse case of dyslexia. This means I can’t really read black and white. I have to use an overlay of different colours. This also knocked me for six. I was bullied not only by pupils but by my own families for being lazy and thick and it turned out it was never my fault. Eleven years later someone tells me I’m not stupid. It made my day. I had paperwork to say I wasn’t what everyone said I was.

When I was at school I dreamt of becoming a motor mechanic but I was given work experience in a Harvester restaurant as a waitress. I don’t know whether I ever said what I really wanted to do but no-one ever asked. I don’t think I could have done work experience in motor mechanics because it wasn’t the sort of things girls did. I never told anyone – family or at school, what I really wanted to do because they would have laughed and said I couldn’t do it.

When I left school, I was pregnant which was another knock back. It was a really hard time as I decided what I was going to do with my life. I now have a beautiful daughter who’s nearly two. It hasn’t been easy, not by far and I knew that people always reckon that us mums get it easy. Well, we don’t.

I’ve done this single-handed, a young single mum. My new positive thinking in life has got a hell of a lot to do with YWCA in West Kent. I felt that they all have lifted me from the dark lonely hole I was once living in. When I first started there I had a major chip on my shoulder. I was a new mum, lost and alone – angry. So I took it out on everyone. The staff sat me down, reassured me and said if I want to leave I can, but they’re going to help me to get what I want out of life. My heart melted. In my whole life I’ve never heard such reassurance, so I thought I’d give it a go.

At the Young Women’s Project I feel safe. It’s just women, you see, so I feel comfortable about trying new things. I can talk about whatever I want, even about really sensitive stuff, without feeling ashamed. No one will tease or criticise. I did the E2E programme and I got certificates in First Aid and ASDAN silver and learned loads of things. I had a place to go on my own to get my life sorted. They helped me look at what I really wanted to do with my life.

At first on E2E I didn’t know what career I wanted to do because I thought there was no chance to follow my dream. Staff at the project made it possible for me to believe in myself. It is such a relief being able to go there as they have more than helped with the bad experiences I’ve had in the past. I never thought I’d be a somebody and yet I’m here today to let everyone know I am a somebody. They helped me get my daughter into a private nursery thanks to the Care to Learn scheme, she is getting the best start to life. I never could have dreamed that I could give that to her and here I am at college now doing my course and enjoying life to the full.

Last year I got my NVQ level 1 in Motor Vehicle, Maintenance and Repair last year and now I am on a Performing Engineering Operations NVQ Level 1. I can’t believe how much I have achieved. I still have things happening in my life which almost get in the way of college, but I have completed one year and have just started my new course. This will give me and Poppy a better life. I know I can count on the staff at the project to help me when I need it and I know I will get that better life.