My name is Victoria, I am 38 years old and I receive support from the Shining On service.
When I was younger there were problems within my family which led to me being looked after within the care system from the age of two years old. When I left care at 17, I became independent and started having my own family.
I was always a bubbly person with a big personality. I had a loudmouth and never knew when to keep it shut! With me there was no filter, so I said what I wanted... This led to me getting into trouble with the criminal justice system. I received criminal charges, again my mouth being the problem. This escalated into more serious charges which is when I ended up in prison for nine months.
When released I did calm down a lot. I continued my life for me and my kids and done my own thing...
Until recently when my neighbours started causing havoc with my children and I intervened. My housing officer and social worker became involved which all resulted in another charge I had to face. This landed me with three months’ probation, which I completed.
It was at this time that I started getting support from various services to make sure that type of thing didn't happen again including mental health workers, social work, counselling, and Shine.
My Shine mentor seen the good and bad sides of me but never left my side. They guided me through my orders and at times pushed me towards things that I probably wouldn’t have faced if they hadn’t supported me. I was grateful of the support which has led me to gaining a part time job and linking in with a volunteer to move further away from offending behaviour.
Shining On became an option to me after my three-months’ probation period had finished. I felt it would benefit me to have a volunteer to speak to and help meet needs that I knew would be useful. I visit the gym weekly with my volunteer to help gain more confidence and to help establish a routine. The choice was mines to visit the gym and I feel my confidence is growing doing this. I also visit the gym with my children, so it gives us a bit of bonding time in which we really enjoy.