Family Pathway

11/12/2025

The MasteringME crew have levelled up again — this time through silversmithing with the incredible Dr Sue Haywood.
Watching our young people work with real tools, real materials, and real precision has been unreal. Silversmithing demands accuracy, patience, attention to detail, and creativity — and every single learner stepped into that challenge and delivered.

These aren’t “arts and crafts.” These are complex, skilled processes:
• measuring and shaping
• cutting and soldering
• filing with accuracy
• designing pieces with intent
• managing multiple steps and tools safely

And the best part? They’re creating their own Christmas presents — meaningful, handmade, and rooted in pride and effort.

Huge shout-out to Donna Newman and Chad Leaming for bringing the energy, belief, and proper coaching mindset. Their “we’ll make it work” attitude is exactly what young people need — calm support, high standards, and motivation that lifts everyone.

And of course, thank you to Dr Sue Haywood, whose skill, patience and generosity keep opening doors for our learners. The impact is massive.
This is MasteringME: young people building real skills, real confidence, and real futures — one handmade piece at a time.

11/12/2025

The MasteringME crew have levelled up again — this time through silversmithing with the incredible Dr Sue Haywood.

Watching our young people work with real tools, real materials, and real precision has been unreal. Silversmithing demands accuracy, patience, attention to detail, and creativity — and every single learner stepped into that challenge and delivered.

These aren’t “arts and crafts.” These are complex, skilled processes:
• measuring and shaping
• cutting and soldering
• filing with accuracy
• designing pieces with intent
• managing multiple steps and tools safely
And the best part? They’re creating their own Christmas presents — meaningful, handmade, and rooted in pride and effort.

Huge shout-out to Donna Newman and Chad Leaming for bringing the energy, belief, and proper coaching mindset. Their “we’ll make it work” attitude is exactly what young people need — calm support, high standards, and motivation that lifts everyone.

And of course, thank you to Dr Sue Haywood, whose skill, patience and generosity keep opening doors for our learners. The impact is massive.
This is MasteringME: young people building real skills, real confidence, and real futures — one handmade piece at a time.

11/12/2025

Yesterday at Railway Gardens honestly summed up everything MasteringME is about — young people showing up with their whole selves, building skills that actually matter, and turning their special interests into real entrepreneurial projects. No tokenism. No “pretend work.” Just the crew doing their thing and owning it.

Our learners (17–25) have spent weeks designing, making, testing, and perfecting their products — from vegan dog biscuits to handmade decorations and jewellery — and yesterday they put it all out there for the community. Confidence. Creativity. Graft. It was all on show.
Massive shout-out to Alyssa, who’s become an absolute star in her role as a Person-Centred Mentor. She’s stepped up big time — volunteering, supporting other learners, and proving what happens when someone is given the space to grow on their own terms. We’re ridiculously proud of her.

And huge respect to Donna Newman, who basically knitted this whole project together behind the scenes — planning, guiding, coaching, and giving learners the scaffolding they needed to shine.

We also want to thank our Non-Executive Director, Dr. Sue Haywood, who brought her beautiful silversmithing work to the stall. Her creativity, guidance, and belief in the young people adds so much to the MasteringME journey.
This is what getting ready for Christmas looks like at Family Pathway: community, empowerment, and young people leading the way.

10/12/2025

This is what youth-led actually looks like.

Young people designing, making and producing their own Christmas gifts for the Railway Gardens Christmas Market – 10th Dec 🎄

From raw materials to finished products — hands on, decision making, problem solving, real work.

This is:
• Making local
• Creating with purpose
• Developing independence and confidence
• Turning ideas into sellable products
• Learning how projects move from concept → community → market

No tokenism.
No sidelines.
Just young people doing the work and owning the outcome.

Come and support youth-led projects, local making, and the next generation of creators and entrepreneurs.

📍 Railway Gardens Christmas Market
🗓 10th December

06/12/2025

Our MasteringME crew is levelling UP.
Week by week, they’re building confidence, claiming their agency, and learning how to set healthy boundaries — all while sharpening the real-world skills that are gonna carry them straight into their March work placements.
🔥 We’re talking:
• Taking ownership of their choices
• Showing up with positive communication
• Creating independence one step at a time
• Practising healthy relationships that actually empower
• Designing their future with purpose + courage
👩‍🍳 And yes — they’re currently smashing their Lv2 BTEC in Home Cooking Skills, plus Lv2 Food Hygiene and Food Safety.
Skill-building? ✔
Confidence-growing? ✔
Workplace-ready energy? ✔✔✔
This is what happens when young people are seen, backed, and believed in.
MasteringME = Every Learning, Succeeding, Achieving — for real. ✨

04/12/2025

At Family Pathway, we don’t “fix” children — because children were never the problem.

What we fix are the systems, environments, and expectations that make it impossible for some young people to show up as their full selves.

When a child is struggling, their behaviour isn’t a defect to manage — it’s communication.

Unmet needs, unsafe environments, and unsupported neurodiversity create the conditions for distress.

Once you understand that, everything changes.

Our work is built on one core belief: every child thrives when the world around them stops working against them.

So we don’t swoop in with behaviour plans or compliance strategies.

We redesign the ecosystem — the relationships, routines, culture, and support structures — so young people feel seen, heard, and safe enough to learn.

This is system change, not child change.
It’s coaching that honours identity.
It’s advocacy that holds services accountable.
It’s person-centred planning rooted in dignity, autonomy, and actual lived experience.

At Family Pathway, our mission is simple:
Build environments where every child can belong, connect, and thrive — for real.

Because when the system adjusts, the child doesn’t have to.

08/11/2025

Remembering Victoria Climbié: A Name We Must Never Forget

On 2 November 1991, Victoria Adjo Climbié was born — a bright, joyful little girl whose life was heartbreakingly cut short at just eight years old.
Had she lived, Victoria would have turned 34 this month.

Her story stands as one of the most devastating reminders of what happens when systems fail to protect a child. In 2000, her death exposed deep cracks in safeguarding — and in her name, reforms were born that continue to shape child protection today.

But remembrance must never rest in history.
We honour Victoria by keeping her legacy alive — in every act of vigilance, empathy, and courage shown by those who protect children.

For every teacher, social worker, police officer, and advocate, her story reminds us why we must never stop listening, believing, and acting.

May her light continue to guide us.
🖤✨ Rest in peace, Victoria.

28/10/2025

Poverty, exclusion and unmet need in Wales

When poverty meets neurodivergence, the barriers don’t just add up — they multiply.

In my latest article for Children in Wales (Autumn 2025), I look at why so many neurodivergent learners are still being failed by systems meant to protect them — and what it would take to make inclusion more than a policy promise.

It’s time to move past “awareness” and start talking about accountability, resources and real-world change.

💬 Read Elsa Torres’ full article here ⬇️
See pages 57–58 of Children in Wales Autumn 2025 - https://issuu.com/childreninwales/docs/ciw_magazine_autumn_2025_english?fr=xKAE9_zMzMw

19/10/2025

✨ ADHD • Autism • AuDHD ✨

These three profiles can overlap — but they’re not the same.

Understanding the why behind behaviours helps us offer the right support.
🔹 ADHD (Inattentive Type) – distractible, forgetful, disorganised, often underdiagnosed in girls.
🔹 Autism – sensory sensitivities, prefers structure, differences in communication and social understanding.
🔹 AuDHD (Autism + ADHD) – sensory + attention challenges, masking and burnout, craves routine but struggles with follow-through.

When both co-exist, strategies must reflect both sets of needs.
ADHD tools alone can overlook sensory differences.
Autism tools alone can demand executive skills that ADHD affects.
Every brain is different — and every learner deserves support that fits them, not the label first written down.

19/10/2025