The following stories were collected during an independent evaluation of the Transitions Service, conducted by a research team from the Institute for Social Justice and Crime, University of Suffolk.
The evaluation explored how the programme works, and how young people, family members and professionals feel it is making a difference for local people and communities.
To hear the perspectives of young people and their families, researchers spoke with five people who had been supported by the service, including three young people and two family members.
These open-ended conversations (storytelling interviews) focused on exploring storytellers’ experiences with the Transitions Service, what had changed for them because of receiving support through the service, and what this change meant to them. Researchers also asked storytellers how they felt the service could be improved.
After each conversation, researchers used the recording and transcript to create a 1–2-page story which captures participants’ experiences with the service, in their own words.
Each storyteller then had the opportunity to review their story, to ensure that they felt comfortable with it being shared and felt that it accurately reflected their perspective.
To protect participant anonymity and confidentiality, names, places and potentially identifying details have been removed; otherwise, the stories seek to capture what storytellers said and how they said it.
For further information about the evaluation as a whole, and discussion of themes across the stories, interviews and workshops, see the full report.