Project helping teen become 'better person'

Jessica, not her real name, thanked Konnect Communities Community Interest Company for putting her back on the right path

A teenager said a Children in Need-backed project has put her on the right path after she got into "real trouble".

Jessica, 17, was referred to the Konnect Communities Community Interest Company (CIC) in Redruth, Cornwall, after starting a fire when she was 16.

Konnect, which provides mentoring support for young people aged 14 and above who are involved in - or at risk of becoming involved in - the justice system, has received £118,500 from Children in Need.

Jessica, not her real name, said the CIC had played a "massive part" in her life and helped her become a better person.

Jessica said she was 12 years old when she first got into trouble

Jessica, who was born and raised in Cornwall, said she first got into trouble when she was 12 after stealing from shops and started lighting fires when she was 14.

"By 15, I was doing more fires and putting cones in the road to stop cars," she said.

Jessica, whose parents split up when she was 13, became involved with Konnect after an incident where she started a fire at a set of huts down by a lake.

"I burnt up the wall - that's when I got into real trouble," Jessica said.

Konnect was founded in 2014 and works across Cornwall and Devon.

Manager Tracy Waters said they offered mentoring, training, volunteering opportunities and specialist criminal justice support designed to help people "move forward positively".

Ms Waters said the Children in Need funding the CIC received had been "vital".

"It's enabled us to support 25 young people each year over a three-year period," she said.

"This investment is helping us embed our work with young people into the very fabric of our organisation, while giving us valuable insight into what approaches make the biggest difference."

Jessica said the support offered by Konnect made her feel much happier and her life was "better than before".

"If I didn't have Konnect I would have gone down the wrong path even more," Jessica added.

"It's played a massive part in my life, it's slowly helping me become a better person.

"I couldn't imagine going back to how I was."