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Louise Edmunton - Young People Corwall (YPC)

I have to admit, I wasn't particularly looking forward to doing my two weeks of work experience! I didn't really know what to expect and that in itself was quite intimidating. It was scary having to do something completely on my own and not having even one familiar face. In the end, though, I think that's what made it so satisfying.

When I arrived at Truro train station, I was really nervous. I found it quite strange waiting for someone to pick me up that I hadn't even met before! For the first week I got to stay with the Chief Executive of YPC and his family. I was really grateful to them as they filled me in on what to expect and were generally really easy to talk to. It was really nice that they treated me as a mature adult. I know it sounds silly but being given a key and being completely trusted when they hardly knew me was quite refreshing. Although I am 17, I guess being at school still makes me feel quite young and dependent in some ways on other people. In this situation, I was suddenly this mature, more independent person and I really liked that.

On the first Monday, I met Jo who I had heard from by letter previously. She was extremely friendly and I immediately felt a lot more comfortable and relieved that it wasn't going to be so bad after all! (I do tend to be quite a negative person, always expecting the worse, as you can probably tell!). Throughout the two weeks I worked at Zebs (a Youth Project/Cafe). For the first morning, I sat through a team meeting. Although it wasn't particularly exciting, it gave me an insight in to what the project was about and enabled me to meet the team. I then sat down with Jo and worked out a timetable of what I was going to do. It was good that it was quite flexible and that I got to have a say in what I was doing.

Throughout the two weeks, I got to do a number of things. I helped out in workshops which included cooking, art and rapping(!). People still laugh when I tell them that I actually had a go at rapping. It was quite embarrassing but despite that, I had quite a lot of fun. In the evenings, there were drop-ins. I quite enjoyed being part of these. Everything was really relaxed and chilled out and it gave me a chance to interact with the young people who came to the youth project. A lot of them weren't much younger than me so they didn't feel intimidated speaking to me. As the week went on, I grew more and more confident speaking to people I didn't know.

There was also a baby cafe where young mothers 'drop-in' with their babies so they can meet and gain support. One of the scariest moments, I think, was meeting someone who was younger than me but who already had a baby! That shocked me a little bit. One of the coolest moments was they fact that I got to design a flyer advertising Zebs and that I got to see the finished product. It was so satisfying handing them out, knowing that I had designed them. I'm still quite proud of that, especially as I'm not the most artistic person!

Before working at Zebs, I always believed that Cornwall was quite a rich, prosperous county - probably because of postcards and in some ways my ignorance! It's actually, however, one of the poorest counties in the UK and receives Objective One funding from the EU along with countries such as in Eastern Europe. Perhaps because of my interest in Economics, I found that quite interesting (that sounds really sad, I know!). In some places in Cornwall, the poverty is quite evident especially for young people. Apart from Zebs, there is absolutely nothing for young people to do in Truro. For many of them, Zebs is the highlight of their day. It’s a place where they can hang out safely with their friends or learn how to play an instrument, completely free of charge. The dedication of the team is amazing. All of them care so much for the welfare of every young person who walks into Zebs. I know this sounds like a cliche, but it honestly did open my eyes.

On the last day, I went and joined another YPC project - Horizons. I had an awesome day as I got to go canoeing! I wasn't very good (I had bruises to prove it!) but it was so funny and again I was able to meet new people and work with other members of YPC. It was definitely a great end to an eye-opening experience!