Encouraging, enthusing and empowering young women across West Sussex | Vicky Meets

Vicky meets… Ali Golds, from The Juno Project.
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What is The Juno Project?

The Juno Project supports vulnerable and marginalised young women across West Sussex who struggle with mental health challenges and/or anti-social behaviours. 60 per cent of young women referred to us who are at risk of exclusion or becoming NEET (not in education, employment, or training). Our flagship programme, This Is Me, is aimed at teenagers aged 14-16. Delivered in small groups, it helps young women to improve their self-esteem and confidence. We encourage girls to explore their behaviours, attitudes, and responses, and to develop a growth mind-set that will help them to overcome barriers and achieve whatever goals they set themselves. A key part of our success is the unique nature of our leadership and facilitation team, the majority of whom come from similar backgrounds to the young women we work with. The team is living proof that success is possible, no matter how your story begins. Our mission is simple – to ‘encourage, enthuse and empower’ with an overriding philosophy that there is no-one better to learn from than someone who has already been through these problems and positively come out the other side.

What sort of groups do you and the team work with?

Ali Golds, from The Juno ProjectAli Golds, from The Juno Project
Ali Golds, from The Juno Project

The young women we support come to us in the midst of experiencing a range of challenges; anything from disengagement with school and/or exclusion, through to mental health issues, membership of gangs, and other related problems. We went online in 2020, as schools were closing, and delivered our programmes remotely. We have also hosted groups in local communities. We have also just begun piloting our brand new programme, Horizons, which supports girls in year 6 (facing similar challenges to the older girls we work with) in their transition from primary to secondary school. Practical, highly interactive, and fun; Horizons also offers the youngsters a chance to be mentored by year 10 girls that we have also worked with in the new secondary school. This enables the older students to give back.

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Has the pandemic seen a rise in demands for Juno's services?

We worked with almost as many girls during 2020-21 as we had in the entirety of the previous three years. We had hoped that demand would begin to fall after schools returned, but our programmes are just as in demand as they were before – in some cases, even higher. We are responding to this need by creating new opportunities.

I gather you are creating a similar project for boys. When will this start to roll out?

I am in the very early stages of creating a boys version of The Juno Project, which will be supported by a brand-new team. I hope we can pilot in West Sussex in the new academic year. My team and I hope to be able to empower boys in West Sussex to create the same successes for themselves as The Juno Project has done for girls.

Where can we find more information?

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