Wigan Athletic are helping vulnerable young people in their community with their education thanks to Premier League Inspires, one of the various community programmes funded by the Premier League and delivered by clubs in their areas.
Premier League Inspires supports students aged 11-25 who are marginalised or at risk of not reaching their potential. People such as Jasmine.
She is a student at Atherton High School, where the support of PL Inspires and the Wigan Athletic Community Trust has been particularly valuable during the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, with periods of isolation reminding Jasmine of a childhood trauma.
She was one of more than 100 pupils from eight different secondary schools who received support via Premier League Inspires and the charitable foundation of the League One club.
They had online and face-to-face mentoring sessions designed to boost the self-esteem and confidence of young people. And this was crucial in helping her mental health.
"Premier League Inspires has helped me to keep going and showed me that I'm not alone."
"The support from staff has been really good. It's given me different opportunities and kept me happy," Jasmine says.
"Premier League Inspires has helped me to keep going and showed me that I'm not alone - there are others going through things as well.
"Having sessions in the classroom was a lot better for me because I have a habit of staying at home and not going out, so when I'm coming to school knowing we have these sessions, I've got something to look forward to."
Growing confidence
With her confidence growing, Jasmine is now using her experiences to help others.
Jasmine and a team of fellow participants have taken part in the PL Inspires Challenge, which tasks young people with developing and then delivering a social action project in their community.
She is part of an after-school youth group set up for young people who may not want to talk with adults about their problems, to allow them open up.
"It was really important to us all as we've all struggled with our mental health," Jasmine says. "Some kids might not have a good relationship with parents or might not have any friends they can talk to, which makes it a lot harder for them.
"Having the responsibility of almost being a mentor has given me that hope that there is a way out of it, and I want to show that to other kids because it isn't fair for them to go through it alone."
