Tigers Pathways - Exploring Volunteering. 

 

Demi Gardner first connected with the Tigers Trust by attending our Tigers Together football sessions alongside her support worker. She had been struggling significantly with mental health issues, with her anxiety often making it difficult for her to engage in activities. Demi has openly shared her past battles with addiction, which led to poor decisions and ultimately a criminal record. Since then, she has been committed to her sobriety and has begun re-engaging in activities she once loved, like football. Having her support worker by her side helped her feel more comfortable during the sessions. Recently, Demi expressed an interest in joining our Tigers Pathways programme. 

 

Demi joined Tigers Pathways in April 2024, seeking support for her anxiety which was ultimately holding her back. Initially, she attended sessions with her support worker, but within just three weeks, Demi had made such remarkable progress that she began attending independently — a major breakthrough. This shift marked a turning point in her journey as her confidence grew, and she began embracing new challenges and stepping outside her comfort zone. 

 

A key goal for Demi was to join a football team, a sport she had loved as a child but had abandoned as an adult. Her anxiety had often stopped her from pursuing hobbies, but this was something she was determined to overcome. With the support of Tigers Trust staff, they not only reached out to local teams together but also accompanied her to her first training session to be there for support. Demi thrived in that first session, and today, she is a fully signed member of the team, training and playing regularly — all completely on her own. Her transformation has been nothing short of inspiring, as she continues to reclaim her passion and independence. 

 

Demi once pursued a career in nursing, a path she enjoyed and wanted to reconnect with through volunteer work. Feeling supported and at ease with Tigers Trust, she saw an opportunity to get involved with the new 'Forever Tigers' project, a programme that engages with local care homes. Determined to contribute, Demi put significant effort into her volunteer application and successfully passed the interview. 

 

Her dedication and hard work are a testament to how far she has come on her journey. Demi’s success in securing this role highlights her growth, and we are excited to continue supporting her as she strives toward her dreams and aspirations. 

 

Demi commented on the impact of the programme: "Pathways is very helpful as well as Tigers Together Football sessions. When I first started my confidence was very low. But over time it has grown and I feel more confident in myself and around others. I feel like I am able to speak to others a lot better. And also from Tigers Trust I have been able to attend a football club. Which is something I have wanted to do for a while and with Amy’s help I was able to contact and attend training for the football club." 

 

George first came to the Tigers Trust when he attended our Care to Dream sessions George attended with his friends and presented as a shy but polite young man who loved to play football ensuring he gave 100% at every session. However, George had previous experience of youth violence, involvement in criminal behavior and would often struggle to regulate his emotions which were displayed in outbursts of anger both in provision but also in the local community. 

 

George was signposted by staff into the Trust’s wellbeing programme Tigers Together, which is a provision to support people improve their well-being through football. George became a valued member at all sessions and wanted to progress off the field, leading him to engage in our employability programme Tigers Pathways. 

 

Pathways is a 6-week development programme looking to support people into employment through workshops, focusing improving CV’s, cover letters and job applications. This programme also focuses on mindset to try and encourage people to make a positive change to their lives. This starts in our activities such as bouldering, footgolf and wellbeing walks where the projects encourages participants to push themselves out of their comfort zone and develop their skills. 

 

George threw himself into the sessions and quickly became engrossed in his self-development. Being on time and polite was the minimum George would give when attending the sessions, which meant he was always there ready to learn with a positive attitude, setting a good example to others on the programme. Throughout Tigers Pathways George worked hard on his CV and cover letter and began to apply for jobs in the local area. After some setbacks with job applications George showed great resilience, a new can-do attitude to not let these setbacks keep him down and signed himself up for another course focused on mindset and self-development called Street Soccer Academy. 

 

Street Soccer Academy is a free 10-week programme at the Trust, using football as a tool to inspire and develop participants both on and off the pitch. Using skills learned in our sessions people begin to believe in themselves and this is exactly what George continued to do. He completed the 10 weeks covering topics such as Mindfulness, Mental health, positive mindset, goal setting, resilience and more. George realised he couldn’t change the past and his previous experiences, but he could use these in a positive way by supporting others and signed up for The FA’s Introduction to Coaching Football. As well as studying the course which included Safeguarding and Emergency First Aid, George began his journey the Tigers Trust as a ‘Community Champion’ supporting the developments in the Tigers Trust car park weeding and planting flowers to make the area a more welcoming place to visit. 

 

After a year of working hard on himself George finally felt in a position to apply for a job working as a casual member of staff delivering within the Social Inclusion strand of Tigers Trust delivery and was successful at interview stage. George will use his experience and relatability to become an asset to the Social Inclusion team. Further to this, George supported staff on the next cohort of Street Soccer Academy, a programme he benefitted from previously sharing his previous experiences of the programmes he had engaged with at Tigers Trust but also how individuals are able to make positive changes to their lives. 

 

He was a credible case study and inspired others to make positive changes throughout. George captained the side at a tournament held at Leicester City's training ground where he led by example showing his leadership skills and supporting with participants confidence. 

 

George’s most recent volunteering was his role on the Turing programme. Turing saw the Tigers Trust take 18 students on a work placement in Salerno, Italy. George became a valued member of the team out there, supporting the young people with pastoral care, getting to placement and always offered his time to people who needed to talk. He has developed emotional intelligence whilst on his journey with the trust and has played a vital role in listing to participants and being able to offer his support by having conversations or coming up with ideas for activities to keep people busy during their down time. 

 

Kayleigh Jackson, the Trust's Social Inclusion Manager said: “George was able to self-recognise that to maintain on a positive pathway he needed to fill his time with positive activities. Through the positive change he has made through the engagement with the Trust he has been offered the opportunity to have a structured week to wrap around his casual hours, George will continue to complete voluntary hours supporting with the Trust’s Boot Room initiative, support staff in the office with any tasks they may have and continue to support with the Trust’s employability strand of delivery as a live case study. To support with transport the Trust has signposted George to Re-volution so he is able to take advantage of their Bike Library. Keep up the excellent work George we are all hugely proud of you!” 

 

Paul Wray a member of the Social Inclusion team said: "As a member of staff who has worked with George for a long period of time, I am extremely proud of the developments he has made since initially engaging with Tigers Trust. George is always polite and is a pleasure to work with, I am looking forward to seeing his journey unfold over the next year and beyond. The hardest thing to do is look at yourself and recognise you need to make a change and George has done just that, with an improved attitude to life and ever-growing self-belief he has lost 5st in the past year through his hard work attending football and now having gym in his daily structure." 

 

George said: "Before joining Tigers Trust I was doing nothing productive with my time due to feeling set back by things that have happened in my life such as being in care, living in Hostels and even being in prison. Tigers Trust helped me to grow in confidence and to believe in myself to accomplish things." 

 

Staff helped build my CV, taught me about interview preparation and supported my self-development. With the support from Tigers Trust and working hard and being dedicated in my own time I applied to a casual Kicks delivery role at Tigers Trust and was successful in the interview and have myself a potential job, something I would never have achieved before engaging in the Kicks programme. 

 

George also sent the below text to Paul after completing the Turing programme "Couldn’t thank you lot at the Trust anymore for the opportunity you lot have given me to be able to change my life, even my mam and sister are saying how my whole attitude has changed and me as a person in general, you lot don’t get enough recognition or credit for how you actually are able to help people change their life and mindset so just wanted to say thank you and hopefully doesn’t sound stupid but for being such a good role model to people." 

 

George’s mum said ‘I’m George's mum, he’s sat with me now and just told me the text you sent him; I’ve also read your success story. Can I just say from the bottom of my heart a huge thank you, you have been a massive turning point in George’s life, and I am so so grateful, I didn’t think anyone could change his way of thinking and believe me I tried. I will be forever grateful for getting him to see what life is really about, so thank you again.’ 

 

Declan Bradley first connected with the Tigers Trust seven years ago through our Premier League Kicks programme, which offers free sports sessions across Hull, providing children aged 8-18 with positive activities throughout the week. After a period of making poor choices that led him into criminal activity, Declan decided to turn his life around. He re-engaged with the Tigers Trust through the Tigers Together programme, a safe space for adults to come together and participate in football. As we developed a relationship with Declan, we invited him to join our Tigers Pathways programme, where he could set goals and create an action plan for a brighter future. 

 

Declan joined Tigers Pathways in May 2024 with a renewed attitude and a clearer sense of direction. He envisioned himself helping others from similar backgrounds and positioning himself to guide them in making better choices. He also turned his attention to his professional growth by creating a new CV and exploring opportunities in the sports field. His first step was volunteering with the Trust, eventually becoming an ambassador. Declan went out of his way to make participants feel welcome and assist coaches during sessions. Additionally, he supported the Tigers Trust arena by helping with gardening tasks and cleaning the Boot Room. 

 

When a position as a casual coach became available at the Trust, Declan was encouraged to apply. Having already made a positive impression on the staff, he successfully secured the role. He has since participated in several sessions as a paid member of the team. Our senior staff member, Gary, noted, "Declan was unbelievable with the kids; they warmed to him immediately, we are all incredibly proud of the effort and dedication Declan has shown in making such a positive change." 

 

Speaking about the impact the programme has had on his Declan said: "We did things that I’ve never done before like going to the golf range and getting out on walks. We focused on individual goals long term and short term and made clear steps to reach them."