Jonny graduated from MYP in autumn 2012. He is an 18 year old from Walthamstow, East London.  He tells us of his journey here.

  “I did not complete my GCSEs because I was kicked out of two secondary schools due to fighting and problems I had outside school. I met a man called Pat Leacock at First Rung College, he saw my potential and will to succeed so introduced me to Bob and I began training at MYP. At the beginning I was unsociable, very quiet and observant, I found it hard to adapt to new people and had that mentality of “do not trust anyone”. As time progressed, I pitched ideas for the ‘What’s Up’ show and got green lights from the producers to shoot my items. I began to realise my potential and feel more confident in my abilities. I felt on top of the world! But problems outside work started to affect my performance. Bob and I talked and I learnt to separate my personal problems from the working environment. I was reminded to keep focused and remember the reasons I was so determined to succeed. When I became an official MYP graduate, my mum and my closest were proud of me but I knew this was only the beginning of something special and I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. After completing the 12 weeks programme, I began six weeks of work experience with Magnum Media. Once that finished, I started a 2 weeks work experience with Freshwater Films and I adapted so well they extended my placement for another week, eventually offering me a three months paid contract as a researcher, which expired this August.  I am now working at The Farm, running in post production and eventually I want to fulfil my ultimate goal of becoming an Executive Producer.

I think as a person, Mama Youth Project has had a life changing affect on me. I always sit and ask myself where would I be if I wasn’t introduced to Bob. These kinds of thoughts make me even hungrier to succeed because I feel I was given a one in a life time opportunity”. - October 2013