The first part of the project involved a residential week, where I stayed with my team in Scotland. I’d never been away on my own before and there were more than 150 other teenagers there, so I was very nervous. I really enjoyed it. It was great to take part in all the team-building exercises and I made lots of new friends.
The next stage of the programme was about skills building. During this week, I stayed at Bolton University with the same team of young people from Scotland. I was more confident by this point as I already knew everyone. I worked with local guide dogs, helping to train them.
For the final stage, we had to apply our experiences to a project that would make a difference to our local areas. I fundraised for the guide dogs and my team baked 80 cupcakes, which we took to a stall at Bolton Market. We sold them all and raised more than £300. We were really proud.
I was excited on graduation night. There were more than 400 teenagers there who had taken part, and we each got a certificate signed by the Prime Minister. It was nice to meet up with my friends again and hear the group leaders talk about the projects their team had done.
Shannen is a young person from one of Northern Care’s Lancashire homes
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