After fleeing persecution in his native Iran at the end of 2020, Mardin, 18, made the long and harrowing journey to the UK.
Having left his family in his hometown, he said the first few months in the UK were “the most difficult part of my life”.
Mardin was settled in Tower Hamlets but he felt lost and his mental health unravelled.
He said: “You don’t feel like you belong here, you are lost. And finding yourself again, in another place, and planting your roots, takes lots of time and energy.”
“And I can say it was one of the most difficult parts of my life. The first few months I was in the lockdown, and I got really bad depression.
“Life was bad, but then I tried to find things which made me feel good.”
Mardin reminded himself that he had previously enjoyed doing many things back home such as studying and sports and decided to look for organisations in London that he could join.
‘I found myself again’
That is how Mardin heard about Springboard Youth Academy, a London-based charity which runs educational programmes for refugee and asylum-seeking young people who have recently arrived in the UK.
As well as providing English language classes, they support young people with life skills workshops and equip them with the necessary tools to flourish. They provide mental health and wellbeing support as well a range of physical activities from football to yoga.
“I found out about Springboard and they helped me so much. I found myself, I found friends, I found things I enjoyed again.”
After attending their half-term programme, Mardin’s English skills improved and his confidence grew.
He is now giving back to the charity which has helped him by volunteering as a peer leader to support the next cohort of young people.
“I know how these young people feel, I was the same and I am still the same,” he said. “I know how important it is to have someone watching your back. I want to be that person and Springboard has given me that opportunity.
“While I am teaching the young people I am learning myself too, it’s not just a one-way thing.”
Mardin feels like his work with the charity has given him purpose and he says he is now hopeful for the future.
He said: “When I was in Kurdistan, I had a lot to say about myself. But here, I have nothing. I am no one. But with Springboard, I found something for myself. They are my friends and colleagues.”
Expansion into east London
Springboard Youth Academy has helped hundreds of young people across London since it began in 2017.
In its first year, their youth academy, which is run out of two local schools in Brent, saw double the number of referrals for what they were able to accommodate.
What started as a summer school has now grown into programmes during half-terms and now every Saturday.
They help child refugees from all over the world, including those fleeing persecution, famine or conflict in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran and Eritrea, as well as El Salvador, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnam and China.
“Now we’re interested in opening in another part of the city that we feel is underserved,” said Springboard Youth Academy’s director Tyler Fox.
Within the next year, they hope to open a new hub which will target youth refugees who have been settled in east London.
Their intake reflects the global political situation and the charity says further expansion is necessary “in anticipation of more incoming young people” due to the ongoing crises in places like Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen and Syria.
“I think we will probably see an increase this year and for the foreseeable future,” Ms Fox added.
Some four million people have now fled Ukraine, according to latest figures from the United Nations.
Unicef has said more than 1.8 million children have crossed into neighbouring countries as refugees, marking what it called “the fastest large-scale displacement of children since World War Two”.
Springboard anticipates Ukrainian referrals soon, with Ms Fox saying they are “getting ready to welcome newly arrived young people in light of the present conflict”.
“We are currently liaising with our north-west London partners about how to best respond.”
Help settling into a new life
Young refugees who have made the difficult journey to the UK are saddled with many challenges as they settle in a new, unfamiliar country and begin to rebuild their lives, says the charity.
They are also required to enrol in school immediately, even though they often have little to no English language skills or support to prepare them for this experience. Springboard say this is made worse by recent budget cuts to schools that have slashed funding for tailored classroom assistance.
Springboard Youth Academy was borne out of a vision to bridge the skills gap and provide much-needed support for newly arrived young people that is lacking in the education system, says its founder Tyler Fox.
Ms Fox founded Springboard Youth Academy with a group of practitioners after spending years working with young people who had come to the UK and noticing they were not getting the support they needed.
She said she became “frustrated seeing young people with brilliant potential not be able to reach that because of the systemic issues and barriers they were facing. We decided we want to do something about it,” she said.
For more information about Springboard Youth Academy, please click here.
