“A Genuine Guiding Light for the Children”
“A genuine guiding light for the children” – we recently sat down with a long standing friend of Matrix to hear why they love working with us and how they see Matrix inspiring young people. Steve Smith – Headteacher, Guildford County School What do you love about Matrix? We’ve had a longstanding relationship with Matrix, […]
Priya’s Progress
Priya had experienced some bullying at school and was struggling with attendance, leading to aggressive and rude behaviour wherever they went. When they started coming to the Youth Café, they brought this disruptive behaviour with them and were unwelcoming to others who came along. The team took time to build trust and engaged them in […]
Malin’s Story
12-year-old Malin was struggling with anger issues as a result of a parental split and other family issues, regular frustration and anger meant they would lash out and get into trouble at school, and at home. In our first few sessions they would either be energetic and loud, or completely unengaged with their head on […]
Work, Rest & Play!
During an enrichment day at Christ’s College, we ran a ‘Getting the Balance Right’ workshop with four groups of year 11s. We worked with the students to discover the importance of having a balance in the areas of ‘work, rest, and play’. This workshop was to help prepare them as they get ready for exam season, […]
Alex’s Achievements
We began seeing Alex in the summer, the school referred him as his self-esteem was noticeably low and he was being distracted easily in class. In one session activity, he scored himself low on feeling valued by others. We then spent the following sessions looking at self-esteem activities and setting simple tasks for him to […]
Hollywood Handshake
This half term we were inspired by the Great British Bake Off to for our hub+ adventures! We gave young people from across Guildford Borough an opportunity to smash a technical and create their own incredible showstopper, all hoping to bake a cake worthy of an infamous Hollywood Handshake. They came full of ideas […]
Hand-holding through Tough Transitions
In the summer term we connected the first of our TLG trained Transition Coaches with their Year 6 students. This Transition Project provides one-to-one support for Year 6 students as they prepare for the big step up into secondary school. It can be an anxious, scary and tough transition for young people, with changing friendship […]
An Incredible Weekend Away!
An Incredible Weekend Away Talking to a parent recently they joked they’d hardly seen their children this summer, only seeing them when they needed clothes washed for the next trip away! While this may be the reality for some (and for many youth workers running the trips) for the young people we work with, going […]