I’m Cian and I am COVEY Young Ambassador. COVEY came into my life when I needed it most at the age of 13. This was shortly after my Mum died. With my two older brothers already living in kinship care with my grandparents, I went to live there for a month. My little sister went to live with my other Gran.

Losing Mum was already the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and having such a huge change in where I was living at the same time made things even more difficult for me. I went from living with my Mum and sister to sharing a room with my two older brothers.

Eventually, my Social Worker recognised that this wasn’t the right place for me and I went to live with my Auntie and Cousins, where I still stay today.

I am Autistic and have learning disabilities, so the East Kilbride ANGELS group at COVEY was a good fit for me. This group supports people with Additional Needs and helps them to make friends and develop skills, like communicating and socialising with different people.

Grieving isn’t something that ever goes away and I’ll miss my Mum every day, but with the help of this group at COVEY, I was able to talk to someone about how I was feeling. COVEY was a constant in my life for two years. I knew that the group was always there, so if something bad happened in the week, I knew there would be someone to talk to about it at the group later. So, it helped me through those moments.

Although it was a weekly group session, the supporters would always make time one-to-one for me if they noticed I was needing a bit of extra help. There were ten of us, but COVEY was good at treating us all as individuals with different feelings and different needs.

The group became a place where I felt safe to be me. I didn’t have to be ashamed of all the things I was feeling because no one ever judged me there. The group became like a protective bubble where I could go and not worry about anything happening outside of the group.

COVEY helped me regain my confidence, something that I’m proud to say I still have today. The group helped me manage my emotions better and express them in healthy ways.

This has all helped me get to where I am today. I am at college, studying Level 6 in Travel and Tourism and I have plans to go back next year to study Hospitality. I’ve been working at McDonald’s for over 2 years now, which helps me be really independent and do lots of travelling around to see all the theatre shows that I love, like Strictly Come Dancing! My next plan is to get my driving licence to open more doors for me with work and hobbies.

Although I am Autistic and have learning disabilities, I don’t really think about it much. It doesn’t stop me doing things I love in life and being independent. These things don’t need to define who I am.

I feel happy about the person I’ve become and I know my mum would be so proud of me.