Pathway to Potential Service

20th October 2025

Blog written by Beth Thomas, Manager of the Our Place Mentoring Scheme. 

 

Pathway to Potential is a collaborative service, funded by the Office for Students and delivered in partnership with Birmingham City University, Barnardo’s, Liminal Education, and Our Place Support. It supports young people aged 14–18 who are care-experienced, educated in alternative provision, or impacted by homelessness. I welcome the service not only as a professional passionate about supporting young people, but also as someone who has lived through many of the challenges the program addresses.

When I was 12, I began truanting from school. It wasn’t because I didn’t care about learning, I had been an A* student but because I was experiencing abuse that made it impossible to focus. How could I be expected to learn algebra or the history of the Third Reich after a night of trauma? Instead, I skipped lessons and spent time in parks. I was punished for not attending, detentions, reports, and a truancy officer who never asked why I was struggling. I was repeatedly told I would never amount to anything and labelled a “troublemaker” or a “tearaway teen.” Labels that take seconds to say but leave a lasting impact. 

By 16, I was living in temporary accommodation, spending the next four years moving between youth hostels. These were places filled with other young people who had experienced trauma and serious mental health difficulties. Despite the clear need, mental health support was minimal, and education or employment opportunities were practically non-existent. In my first hostel, I was told there was no point applying for a job and that employers wouldn’t hire me because of where I lived. The labels from school were reinforced and I was stigmatised for being young and homeless. My experiences in temporary accommodation showed me just how easily young people can be written off. But ambition doesn’t disappear because of circumstances. Dreams are still there; they are just weighed down by societal barriers and judgment.

In my early 20s, I returned to education. I moved in with my Nan and began attending an Access to Social Science course once a week. I had no long-term plan, but over time, I completed a degree in Childhood, Culture and Education at the University of Birmingham. During my studies, I completed a two-week placement at Our Place Support in Sutton Coldfield, 13 and a half years ago and I’ve never left. Motivated to be the support I wish I’d had; I became a mentor for children and young people and then manager of the mentoring scheme. I am safeguarding director on the board and deliver mentoring and safeguarding training to community organisations. In 2022, I also graduated with an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Wellbeing, focusing on the impact of extra-familial harm on youth mental health.

In my early 30s, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Navigating life with a long-term mental health condition is challenging and highlights the importance of appropriate support during youth and its long-term effects in adulthood. Yet, too many young people still face barriers to education such as abuse, care experiences, homelessness, stigma, and inadequate mental health support. From my own experiences, I know how easily potential can be overlooked.

That’s why I am proud to contribute to Pathway to Potential, a multi-agency service that supports care-experienced young people, those educated in alternative provision or impacted by homelessness. Through one-to-one mentoring, family support, academic tuition, and professional development days with the University, the service creates opportunities and recognises the potential of every young person it reaches.

Seeing the difference this kind of support can make reinforces why programs like Pathway to Potential are so vital. If it had existed when I was younger, my journey might have looked very different. The abuse, homelessness, stigma, and unrecognised mental health struggles I faced could have been met with understanding and support, rather than punishment and judgment. I am proud to be part of a project that empowers young people, ensuring their past or current circumstances do not define their potential or future.

If you work with a young person who would benefit from this service, please contact mentoring@ourplacesupport.org for more information.