Jordan’s Story
Their home had been vandalised with graffiti; threatening letters had been sent to the house and Jordan became too afraid to leave.
School attendance dropped significantly and he became increasingly isolated.
But violence and exploitation rarely affect one person alone. The ripple effect it creates can be felt across whole families.
Jordan’s family were carrying the impact too.
Following a referral to St Giles’ SOS+ mentoring programme, which supports young people affected by violence and exploitation through trusted relationships and early intervention, Jordan’s support worker, Waleed, put a plan in place to help Jordan and his family feel safer and reduce the level of fear they were living with.
Young people who are not street smart often get exploited. I want to make sure they know they can say no and understand how to get out of unsafe situations.
Waleed, Jordan’s St Giles Support Worker
Waleed brought together the professionals involved in Jordan’s life, including school staff, safeguarding leads and police, to make sure the seriousness of the situation was understood and action could be taken.
For Jordan and his family, this became the moment things stopped getting worse and began moving in a different direction.
Alongside coordinating support, Waleed built trust directly with Jordan. For the first two weeks, he walked Jordan to school every morning to help him feel safe enough to return.
When classmates asked who he was with, Jordan told them Waleed was his older brother.
Waleed also encouraged Jordan to spend more time outside and supported him to take part in activities with St Giles and local organisations so he could gradually reconnect with the world around him.
Alongside supporting Jordan directly, Waleed advocated for the wider family.
By raising safeguarding concerns and increasing the family’s risk level with the council, he helped speed up their move into safer accommodation.
Jordan’s mother described the support as:
A blessing for our family. Even on mornings where he wouldn’t get out of bed, Waleed would somehow get him up and ready.
After six months of intensive support, Jordan’s school attendance increased from 58% to 88%.
Today, he is preparing for his GCSEs, something that had once felt uncertain.
Jordan is spending more time outside, reconnecting with his community and beginning to imagine life beyond school.
Supporters help St Giles create moments that change direction – putting the brakes on fear and creating space to move towards safety and possibility.
Can you help make this time next summer look very different for young people like Jordan and families who are still living with fear?
With your support, more young people can rebuild confidence, move away from fear and reconnect with education, so they can begin imagining futures that stretch far beyond school.
Be there this summer, so someone can look forward to the next one.