This Is Us

Meet Chester

I am Chester, I am the out of hours youth worker in Bridgend in which I will be going out to youth clubs and doing one to one with young people. I am looking forward to working young people and building a meaningful and fun service and to make a difference for young people that I will be supporting. My main hobbies are playing Rugby and watch Nfl, Ufc, Nba. I love going out on my road bike on the local cycle path and I love having as much fun as possible. My favourite quote is one that I have learnt over the years is that “life is not a straight line”. Meaning that take each day as it comes and go with flow.

Meet Evee

I am the Young People Trainer on the State of Mind project, which means that I work with young people aged 16-25 across Wales by running wellbeing peer support groups. I also work with our Peer Mentors, making sure that they have the training and support they need and deserve, and help out alongside all the team to make sure all our resources and tools are up to scratch – the world we all live in is forever changing, so we should always make sure the resources we use are still relevant! I love that when working with young people, you need to be creative and dynamic. There is a lot going on, a lot changing at that time of human life, so we have to adapt and change along with it. It can be challenging, but mostly really fun. I am also pretty lucky to be part of a creative and positive team – I am able to take some chances with my creative side, and I can do so with the full support from the team, and with the enthusiasm of the young people we work with at my back. Altogether, I love that our work is always focussed on new opportunities, is full of energy and radiates a healthy positivity. I guess I would have to say art and comics! I love to draw and it can really help my emotional wellbeing to express some of my feelings on paper, as well as just drawing for the meditative aspect of it. I am also a huge nerd, used to attend anime and comic-conventions every year prior to COVID-19 and Japanese manga and anime was my main pathway to drawing. But I find art and creativity of all kinds amazing and calming, and have on occasion also happily spent several days of a holiday just visiting art galleries and museums to admire art and culture of the past and present. There is something wondrous about seeing the beautiful works people can create from their imagination. I am a big believer in Mindfulness – it has helped me immeasurably throughout my life and I think a lot of what I gain from it is what also makes up the serenity prayer. I wish for the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the Wisdom to know the difference!

Meet Laura

I’m Laura and I’m the Social Media Editor for Platfform4YP. I love this role as I get to be creative and see all the wonderful things young people are achieving! I started off by joining the State of Mind programme a few years ago and I haven’t left Platfform since. I am currently a pharmacy student in Bath, and in the future, I would really like to bridge the gap between social and healthcare. I enjoy funky earrings, tiktok and animals! One of my favourite quotes is ‘Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.’ If you ever want to get involved with the content, give us a DM!

Meet Ian

My name is Ian and I am a Young Personal Educator for the Switched On team who are the Substance Misuse Information and Education provider for Cardiff and the Vale. I really enjoy getting out and about and delivering sessions to people, arming them with factual and up to date information so that they can make informed choices about their health and lifestyle, as well as provide help and support to others. Away from work, I am a big sports fan, particularly Boxing, NFL, Football and Rugby. I also really enjoy TV & film and relaxing with a good book from time to time. I believe that we need to be kind to ourselves amongst all the chaos of life these days and try to find moments of calm and stillness which is easier said than done. My favourite quote is, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step”….. Martin Luther King Jnr. Things start with small steps.

Meet Natalie

I’m Natalie and I am a Young Person’s Coach on the Platfform 4YP Swansea Bay project. I LOVE being a coach! It’s such a privilege to hear young people’s stories and work with them to empower and uplift them to live their best lives. I love that Platfform is willing to challenge the mental health system and advocate for a more trauma informed, strengths based approach. We all have inner strengths –we just need to be empowered to use them! I am very imaginative and love writing and reading. In my teenage years I wanted to be an actress and starred in a couple of TV adverts – including one with David Beckham! Seeing that as the peak of my acting career, I no longer act but advocate for the use of drama as a form of expression and therapy. A quote that has stuck with me since my childhood is ‘This too shall pass’. When we are anxious or low, it can seem as though we will always feel that way – this isn’t the case. We must be optimistic that better days will come!

Natalie now has left us. We hope that her future is great.

Meet Mike

I’m a Young People’s Coach and I work with people aged between 13 and 16 to develop the tools they need to build a positive outlook on their lives. What I enjoy about my job: I love working with different people every day. It means that every day is different from the last and the next. I’m obsessed with sport, especially football, mountain biking and CrossFit. My favourite quote is, “Be happy with what you have. Be excited about what you want.”

Meet Lynne

My name is Lynne Jones and I am the coach for the Platfform for families. I support parents and siblings from families where there is a child/children facing mental health challenges. The service covers Cardiff and the Vale and promotes confidence, self-awareness and self-care as well as a chance to share experiences and develop a network of peer support. I love to see both adults and children stepping into their own personal growth and exploring new ways to be as a person as well as in their role as a parent or sibling; ultimately being the best that they can be in their own lives. I really enjoy my own family time and love to walk on the beach with our two dogs when we can! My own life has not been without its own struggles and one thing that has helped me is this quote “and this too will pass” a good reminder that everything is transient. It helps me know the hard times will not last forever as well as helping me make the most of the fun times too!

Meet Sinead

I am a Relief Worker and Peer Mentor at Platfform. I help run the state of mind program and social groups for 13-16 year olds and I am also there to offer any support that I can. I love meeting everyone and helping individuals with their wellbeing. My favourite hobby is drawing, arts and crafts, baking and jumping on my trampoline. I love unicorns and bright colours. Favourite quote: Be a unicorn. Embrace your uniqueness, stay true to you, believe in miracles, sparkle from within and enjoy the journey.

Meet Nicole

I am the Young Person’s Trainer for South Wales. I develop and deliver training across all our projects. Empowering young people along the way to support each other to improve their mental health and wellbeing. The best part about my job is meeting and engaging with young people all over South Wales. Watching the success stories of those who go through our programmes and find their 'voice', it really inspires me. Outside of Platfform, I enjoy walking my dog Mervyn, spending time with my numerous family members, and binge-watching the next best series on Netflix. One of my favourite quotes that has helped me with my own wellbeing is ‘Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck’.

Meet Tesni

My name is Tesni and I am the Service Manager for our Gwent 4YP, StateOfMind, Out of Hours Youth Work and Platfform for Families projects. I love my job because I get to work along-side an amazing team of people who are so dedicated to helping others and changing the system! Getting to see the young people we work with achieve their goals and become their BEST self is SO rewarding and will always keep me going no matter what. Something you should know about me is that I am dog obsessed. I am that lady who crosses the road and climbs over walls to say hello to a little pooch. They truly bring me such happiness and my end goal in life is to retire in the countryside of Wales and live with hundreds of dogs running free in the fields… The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is to follow your heart. It knows you best and I always trust that it will guide me in the right direction no matter what.

Meet Luke

I'm Luke and I am a Young People's Trainer for Gwent. I love my job because I help young people through the difficult times that we all go through from time to time, including me. I am here to help and support you to BElieve in YOUrself! I love sports! In particular rugby, but it could be any sport. I could be playing, watching, coaching or even volunteering. It's something about being physically active that gives me an amazing buzz. Put your own mask on first. Putting and caring for yourself first is the best thing you can do, in order to help others. It isn't selfish, it's a priority.

Meet Sian P

I am Sian and I work alongside Young People to enable them to reach their personal goals. I enjoy working with unique individuals and learning something new every day. My favourite hobbies are anything Beach related, especially paddle boarding & going on adventures with my dogs. A favourite quote is, "make sure you're a priority once in a while. It's not selfish. It's necessary."

Meet James

My name is James, and I am a Young People’s Coach in Gwent. I am part of the Young People’s Team who offer mental health and wellbeing support and I conduct 121s with young people and run groups. I love my job because it gives me a platform to help young people work through challenging thoughts and feelings impacting on daily living that we can all relate to. I love any sport and exercise and although my main passion is football, I love going to the gym, hiking and swimming. I also love sunrises and sunsets and getting out and exploring anywhere new. My favourite quote is, ‘Don’t count the days, make the days count’ – Muhammad Ali. I think it is important to focus on the present and find something you enjoy every day and week. It is important to seek discomfort in your life and push yourself to take something positive from every day.

Meet Siobhan

I’m Siobhan and my role at Platfform is Head of Service for Children and Young People and I LOVE my job. My job involves supporting the team to achieve their goals and creating a good working environment where everyone feels accepted but is also challenged to grow. I’ve always felt passionately that work should be a place we like to be and something that brings out the best in us and is also FUN! I spend time in meetings that also feed into the future of our services and listen to what the team and young people are saying about what matters when it comes to young people’s mental health and wellbeing. Then I put together action plans and check how things are going. What I love about my job the most is that it’s varied and that I get to listen and learn new things daily. I have learnt so much working at Platfform and I really appreciate that. My favourite hobby at the moment is listening to TedTalks and Youtube videos, there’s so much information out there at a click of a button! My favourite quote is the following by Helen Keller. "When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another." I love this quote because when we do the best we can (which will never be perfect by the way!), great things happen but we don’t always realise this! it’s tempting to think we can’t make a big difference in this world, but the small things we do every day, especially the things we do for others can make HUGE miracles happen and the best part is we may never know! To me this quote is full of possibilities and I like to think there are lots of miracles out in the world because of people who just did their best and didn’t do it for the glory!

Meet Tom

I am the Chief Editor for Platfform4YP, I manage and edit most of the amazing content for our website and social media accounts that are created by the incredible young people that we work with. I enjoy working with an empowered group of young people and reading the inspiring stories and ideas of the young people that create our content. I also love showing adults that through our work young people have a meaningful space within the mental health sector! I love photography! I personally use it as a way to express myself and in order to raise awareness for mental health and wellbeing by using my own experiences with mental health problems as my inspiration. It is okay to have bad days.

Tom now has left us. We hope that his future is great.

Meet Mark

My role is Training Officer on the Swansea State of Mind Project. My role involves delivering the State of Mind program to young people in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. I also help with 121 work, and support the young people's coaches where needed. What I love about my job is the young people I work with, and how they inspire me every day. I have seen some amazing changes in young people because of the work we all do and that gives me the strength to keep doing what I do. I also love the people I work with as we all have a similar vision and approach to what we do. We are all kind and compassionate people and we love the work we do, so for me this isn’t work, it's doing something I love which can never be really called work right? I am a family man first and foremost and my kiddies are my world. Most of my spare time revolves around acting silly with my kids, usually falling over a lot as they tend to be accident prone and making them laugh as a result. I do love cooking and being creative. Favourite quote is Man in the Arena. Its lengthy but it's worth looking up. Basically, it's about giving things a try and if you fail then at least you failed giving it your best shot and you can always be content with that. Remember… Nothing lasts forever and the storm always passes.

Meet Sian

I do the administration for the Young People’s Team. I make sure that your details are recorded on the right database for the coaches to pick up and make contact. I also make sure the team is kept up to date with any important or useful information that comes to the Young Person’s inbox. I like the people I work with and I like working behind the scenes. Making sure that the information that the coaches need is in place, so they can concentrate on making a difference in a young person’s life. I’m really enjoying going out walking and exploring, whenever I can. I love discovering new places I didn’t know existed until the moment I’m right there, it’s like finding treasure. It’s a mini adventure every time I step out my front door. ‘Baby steps’ or break it down. Don’t look at the problem as a whole or you’ll terrify yourself into inaction. Break it down into manageable parts and tackle them one at a time. Oh! And ‘dance like nobody's watching!’

Meet Tammie

I’m an energetic ball of positivity called Tammie, loving my time here as a Young Persons Coach at Platfform. I’m very open-minded and I love that being in this job means I get to speak to so many different people; I’ve been told I’m easy to talk to, including for those who are shy, anxious or those who may feel like they think differently to everyone else. Finally, I absolutely love being creative and will ALWAYS be wanting to see pictures of your pets if you have any. As well as loving the obvious: Food, animals, shopping, etc., in my spare time, I create my own “doodle” art (You may have seen them on Platform47p’s website), I create board games/card games with my friends for fun, watch Let’s Plays on Youtube and help the community through litter picking events, or by giving presents or notes to strangers/the homeless when I can. The best lesson I have learnt is that - life is what you make it; if you picture something you’d like to happen, and you can see a way you can do it – go for it. Also, get rid of the idea that you must be “great” at something to enjoy it: It doesn’t matter if you think that you “can’t sing or dance”, just sing and dance for fun; It doesn’t matter if you think that you “can’t draw”, just draw for fun… Enjoy yourself!

Meet Sarah

I’m Sarah and I am the Project Manager of Platfform 4YP Swansea Bay project I love my job as I get to talk to young people every day and to walk alongside you as you grow in confidence and become your best self! Oh, and I also get to meet alpacas! I am a secret TikTok legend and have over 1 million views! And I really love walking on the beach with my family and our dog Rubi. The best piece of advice that I have been given is ‘be patient with yourself, nothing in nature blooms all year so take a breath, slow down and it will pass.’ This is super good for me as I live life at 100 miles an hour and sometimes this can be hard to cope with!

Meet Lucy

I am Lucy and I am a Website Editor for Platfform4YP. I create blogs and resources for the Platfform4yp website. My favourite part about my job is that I can be creative with content as well as helping other young people. I love sports. At the moment I am a climber but I would love to take part in other extreme sports like surfing and lacrosse. I am also a big fan of cinematography and editing as in the future I want to be a part of the film industry. My best piece of advice would be just to enjoy what you do in both your jobs and your personal lives as we only live once.