Kody gets back on track with YOLO

As Foundation of Light takes a look at its latest year of impact, we are sharing the story of 14-year-old Kody Wardle Burns who has got his future back on track after working with YOLO anti-social behaviour intervention project.

YOLO supports young people aged 10-16 who are or have been in possession of carrying a knife or weapon, or there is evidence they may be involved in serious violence in the future.

The free 20-week early intervention programme is managed by our specialised Youth Engagement team and young people can be referred via the Youth Justice Service and Northumbria Police.

Kody had stopped attending school and was reluctant to engage in anything in his community following an incident he and his brother had with a knife in the community.

He started to attend YOLO to look at more positive routes, to better learn how knife crime is wrong, and to understand how to control his anger and find out new techniques on how to keep calm in pressured situations. Kody hoped that developing in these areas would allow him to work on building a better future for himself.

Kody became heavily engaged in the sessions, taking an active part and having a genuine enthusiasm to take something from the programme. He pinpoints the VR knife crime session as a highlight, which provided him with an eye-opening first-hand experience of how serious it can get.

He found the sessions to be a comfortable environment to express his feelings, describing it as a ‘safe space’ which allowed him to share and process his personal experiences with his tutors and fellow participants.

Since taking part in YOLO, Kody is back in full-time education and working towards his future, now eyeing up a career as a bricklayer. He is also more engaged within his community, taking part in extra-curricular activities, including trampoline sessions at school which he enjoys.

Kody’s mother has noticed the impact that the sessions have had on him, saying: “He is much more confident.

“He’s now focused on remaining on the right track by getting back into education and focusing on what he really wants to do.”