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A trainee cooking a meal in the Handcrafted kitchen
Abdul’s Story

Engaging young asylum-seekers

Abdul fled on a 5,000-mile journey, fighting to survive for 18 months at the age of just 14.  Abdul’s father had served in the Afghan military and lost his life to Taliban reprisals after the US withdrawal.

When he was then placed with us in County Durham, Abdul struggled to adapt - he isolated himself and fell out with his housemates. Conflict resulted in police call outs, damaged property and Abdul wanted to move into a flat with another housing provider, but by the next Monday he was evicted from there for causing substantial damage.

Abdul faced homelessness but Handcrafted believes that everyone deserves another chance, even if it costs us. So, we settled him into another Handcrafted house.

When his first new housemate was due to arrive, Abdul was anxious. He decided to make them feel welcome by preparing a meal, but we had to teach him to cook first!

We have kept up the cooking lessons. He can now cook a range of meals independently including an Afghan national dish. This led to growth in confidence and healthy coping mechanisms. It gave him space to open up about his struggles and he is now accessing counselling.

Image depicting someone helping another person up a mountain

Testimonials

Changing Lives have been working in partnership with Handcrafted for some time, and have seen the improvements that they have made to the service since they first began. We see Handcrafted as a valuable partner, providing effective support to our residents, most of whom are socially excluded and have been given up on by other services.

Handcrafted provides a safe environment for residents, so that they can explore new skills, gain confidence and improve self-esteem. This has been demonstrated on a number of occasions, when residents have been given the support specific to their needs, staff have shown patience and understanding in dealing with individuals who can be very challenging.

We work very closely with Handcrafted and have formed a unique working partnership together, we have seen a massive difference in the confidence that our residents have when they have engaged in this service, and that is due to the staff at Handcrafted going the extra mile, to make a difference to our residents, showing empathy and understanding and without judgement.

Long may this continue…

Margaret M, Service Lead, Changing Lives