Grace’s Story

Grace has recently been a participant in one of two groups of young women from years 9 and 10 in Woodchurch High School delivering the culmination of their hard work on On Track to Achieve with athlete mentor, and former world champion Inline Skater, Jenna Downing. Engaging with younger students from local primary schools, as well as year 7 in their own school, the groups focused their social action projects on empowering their peers around wellbeing and supporting them in times of transition – reaching an amazing 300 young people!

We caught up with Grace as she completes her On Track to Achieve journey to learn more about her experiences and how the programme has benefitted her.

The cost of everything has gone up over the past year – could you tell me a little bit about how this has affected you?

“As the costs have gone up I feel I haven’t been able to buy as many things for myself and haven’t been able to go out with my friends as much. This has made me feel like I have lost a few friends as I haven’t been able to see them.”

In a recent survey of 19-25 year olds, many said that the areas they needed support with were employability and mental and physical wellbeing. Could you let me know your experiences of this?

“I feel my mental and physical wellbeing have been affected especially since joining high school. I feel like I have become more self-conscious and I feel like everyone is judging me for everything I do and the way I look because of unnatural beauty standards set by social media. This lead to me feeling unworthy and not good enough which caused a huge fall in my confidence. However, I feel this programme has helped me build that confidence back up as I have been surrounded by a group of positive girls that have experienced a similar thing.”

We’d like to hear about some of the challenges you were facing before taking part in the programme – could you tell us a bit more about yourself and your personal story?

“I feel like my insecurities take over making me doubt myself and doubt the things I felt I was once confident doing, however the programme has developed this.”

What have been the favourite bits of the programme so far?

“Teaching my dance to the year 6’s and having to use new skills and trying to engage the children.”

How did you feel by the end of the programme? Did you notice differences about yourself?

“I feel I have developed as a person and I don’t feel as judged while doing the things I enjoy. And I have developed new friendships with people I never thought I would.”

What are you working on now?

“I am currently starting to get into good study habits to help me as I go into year 11 as I am going to start my GCSEs which will start shaping my future.”

Can you tell us how being on the programme is helping you in your life now?

“I feel in my personal life I have become a better person as I am more understanding of others and the issues they may face in their personal life.”

What was it like working with your athlete mentor? 

“I have really enjoyed working with my athlete mentor as I feel I have developed a good connection with Jenna and can talk to her about many of my personal issues that she has helped me face while I develop skills to help overcome these problems, I can see how sport has influenced her life and helped her develop as a person that can come to help us in many ways.”

 Our research shows that young women are more likely to worry about their wellbeing and less likely to feel positive about achieving their goals or coping with setbacks – highlighting the need for female-only support, particularly around self-confidence and ability to achieve goals.

• 48% of females told us they feel positive about achieving their goals, compared to 58% of males.

• 40% of females told us they ʻoftenʼ worry about maintaining their mental wellbeing, compared to 32% of males.

• 33% of females feel told us they are ʻnot very confidentʼ about coping with setbacks, compared to 22% of males.

 With this in mind, we were thrilled to note the progress Grace, and the other young women who have taken part in On Track to Achieve this year.

Athlete Mentor Jenna is brimming with pride as she shares the group’s achievements.

“The girls did a phenomenal job. They did all their planning for the sessions, and on the day it was really over to them! They delivered brilliant ‘Fast Fitness’ sessions with Year 6, including dance, scootering and boxing to name a few; and also ‘Wellbeing Workshops’ for 300 Year 7 pupils covering nutrition, mental health and self care. I am so proud of them!”

This On Track to Achieve programme was funded by Football for Change and delivered in Wirral, Birkenhead.