What was the challenge?

In an area of Bradford with a majority South Asian population, Oscar was one of the few white pupils at his school. Oscar just wanted to fit into the crowd, but he struggled to make friends. The other boys always teased him. He didn’t like being the centre of attention, so he often refused to do presentation tasks in class and avoided certain lessons

What did Brathay do?

Oscar was referred to the VRU programme. That’s where he met Indy, a youth worker at Brathay. In the sessions, Oscar had the opportunity to learn about mechanics, race go karts and explore topics such as antisocial behaviour and goal setting for himself.

Unfortunately, during one session, another member of the group targeted racist comments towards Oscar. Indy acted straight away. He submitted an incident report to the school and ensured they heard and followed up his concerns.

What was the impact?

By acting on the abuse, Indy proved to Oscar that he mattered. From then on, Oscar grew in confidence and found his voice. He began to stand up for himself, make friends in the group and wanted to present his work at the end of sessions.

His voice became his identity. He applied himself in every session and tackled each challenge head on. He said, “before this programme, I always went late to lessons and sometimes I did not go at all, so I think this has been good for me.”

We offered Oscar a safe space. He normally came into the VRU sessions early and we asked how things were in his life. He needed somebody to listen to him and show they cared.

Indy, Youth Worker

*Names have been changed.