Xander's Story
I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder back in 2016 but used my circus skills training to help me work through various issues over the years, now I'm using those skills to help other people through my Community Champions social action project.
On my project, I worked with refugees and asylum seekers via the Nottingham & Notts Refugee Forum, teaching the group circus skills. This type of activity works really well with this group as for a lot of them, English isn't their first language and so something that's practical, physical and fun really works well.
We've been invited to come back and continue the programme, after the Community Champions element finishes which is great, and I'm definitely going to do that. It's really helped build my confidence and made me realise that you don't have to wait for someone else to do it - you can be the change you want to see.
James Kirton was Xander's athlete mentor throughout Get on Track and now on the Community Champions programme:
“Xander came out of Get on Track and it’s interesting how you think you’ve seen someone’s limit... and then you support them even more and they just take it to the next level, and then the next level - that’s exactly what Xander did. He’s connected with a completely different community, which is exactly what Community Champions is all about... ”
We'll be keeping in touch with Xander and our other Community Champions as they continue to deliver their social action projects. Follow their stories on Twitter and Facebook.
Many thanks to Sport England for funding the Community Champions project.