Tom left school with very little direction from people around him and very few ideas of what he wanted to do in life. He spent a period of his life doing nothing other than slowly getting pulled into using drugs as a pasttime and to make each mundane day go by a little quicker. Although Tom lacked ideas, he did not lack motivation and after an apprehensive visit to his local connexions office he was introduced to an Entry to Employment (E2E) programme at Sport Support.

Tom has a love for the outdoors, and being a huge motorbike fanatic, the Active Adventure Outdoor Activities course was perfect for him. Joining the programme in 2007, he quickly engaged in the practical learning and experiences taking place which allowed him to develop a comprehensive understanding of the activities, their health and safety policy and how he can assist instructors appropriately when working with others. Through the work experience he took part in, Tom quickly recognized he was also very naturally gifted when working with children in the outdoors.

During his time at Sport Support, Tom has improved his own health and dealt well with his drug problem. Through guidance from the Sport Support tutors, he has achieved a Level 1 Sports Leaders Award (JSLA), First Aid Award, Health and Safety Award and a Manual Handling Award. He has developed and improved his numeracy and literacy skills as part of the course and greatly increased his own self confidence and belief.

Tom now sees that he has a lot of potential in this industry and has recently moved onto a modern apprenticeship within it that will hopefully take him on to full time employment in the near future.