Here's what our current group of peer educators had to say about the project. To read more of the i nterview, and more about our peer educator's personal stories, contact us for a copy of On Your Feet! magazine.

Do you think it would have helped you to have met a peer educator in school?

BETH: It would’ve helped a lot.

ASH: Yeah, cos  when I was younger I always said to my mum, I’m moving out when I’m sixteen, I don’t want to live with you. Now that I actually have done it I know it’s different.

CHRIS: I was going through a difficult time and there was only one person at school I could talk to – she called social services and that was all I could do. I didn’t know what type of things there were, if I’d done this I could have made contact straight away and I’d have known who to talk to.

BETH: It’s more real that we’re going in

ASH: We can relate to them more

BETH: Yeah, we know what it’s like, we’ve been through it. We know how it feels. You’ve got what you’ve been told, but we can say that it’s true, that we’ve been there.

CHRIS: Some people don’t realise they are going through difficult times

BETH: And that someone else has gone through it, they might be like hold on, that’s happening to me

CHRIS: and that’s when all the information we give them, it helps them.

How does being a Peer Ed make you guys feel?

BETH: It makes me feel proud that I can actually help someone.

ASH: Something good comes out of the fact that we’ve been through it, we’re doing something good with our experiences,

CHRIS: it makes me feel happy, really proud. And it makes you feel you’ve not gone through that for nothing. Because you’ve had that experience you can actually advise people going through the same thing, or before it happens to prevent it. That’s what the aim of this peer education is, to prevent it.

ASH: It makes you feel more confident, I can go to a workplace and feel more confident. Before it was like I didn’t want to admit  where I lived. Now I can say, I lived in a hostel I went through this, not I’ve had a crap life. I’ve built up my confidence and I can say, I lived in a hostel and now I’m doing some good.

What have the classroom sessions been like so far?

BETH: You get the boring ones, you get the ones where you can speak a lot and it’s great. They really take it in, and even if they don’t speak a lot you can see they’ve taken it all in.

CHRIS: They’re like this person’s been through a lot, and maybe I’ve got a mate like that,

ASH: I like the fact that we actually change their views on homeless people, they call homeless people tramps and everything at the start, but at the end of it they won’t. They think they are actual people who are feeling things; not just dirty or with drug problems

BETH: it makes you think about it yourself – just cos someone’s on the street it doesn’t make them a tramp. It’s their way in life, it’s hard for them

CHRIS: you’ve got people who are homeless and don’t care, but there are people who try, and want to get out of it

BETH: before you call someone a tramp it makes you think, what have they gone through, why are they there?

Do you think you’ve made a difference to the activity?

All: yeah

ASH: We’ve changed their views, we’ve given an awareness that it’s not easy.

BETH: It makes them realise it’s not that easy to get housing

CHRIS: and that although you’re losing a lot when you become homeless, but that at the end of it there is light, you can work your way through it and you mend all the bridges, there’s always possibilities.

ASH: Yeah, you can make something good out of bad things

What have you gained personally?

BETH: Confidence

ASH: Yeah cause you’re doing good.

CHRIS: It makes you feel part of society. You’re helping people out, I always believe that good things come to good people. If one person educates another, and they educate another person it goes on in a circle and it’ll go on forever. That’s what makes me happy, to help someone out, that’s the main thing

How did you first feel about talking about your experiences in front of a room full of strangers?

BETH: I thought I wouldn’t do it. Then I thought yeah I can do some good. You’re not really bothered once you’re in there, you just want to talk about it

CHRIS: you’ve got to get the message across

BETH: you can’t be ashamed of what’s happened to you

CHRIS: exactly, because it happens everywhere

BETH: to anybody

CHRIS: and if you can help them now, you need confidence to get the message over as clearly as you want to.

How will peer education help you in the future?

BETH: being able to talk to people, you can do that openly. You feel good in yourself for the future.

CHRIS: people look at you and think, yeah this person has done well, they’ve got people experience, people skills are one of the main things you need

ASH: that is going to help anyone in any kind of job. You have to be able to communicate, and in peer education you have to communicate to people you’ve never met. It makes you think that in what you’re saying you have to set an example.

BETH: if we can talk to a bunch of teenagers it makes you think you can talk to anyone

ASH: in a classroom too, you have to think about what you say, and what questions they’ll ask and how you’ll answer.

BETH: this is one small step in life, which could help us to take big steps in life later.

How has it made you think more about your own experience?

BETH: it makes you feel better, you don’t feel so down about it. You think back, and you might feel depressed and stuff, this helps you feel good about it

ASH: It’s made me realise of the things I could have done different. It’s made me think twice, and grow up about a lot of things, and feel more positive about the future.

CHRIS: I’ve grown up so quickly, learning all these things. It’s been a major help.

ASH: It’s amazing how you feel. After you’ve done a session, I go home and just feel really good. It’s made a difference, I’ve done good.

BETH: We get the message across and that’s what we need to do.

CHRIS: however difficult the group is, if only one person realises, this could be me or my mate – that tiny little difference matters.

ASH: I don’t remember a lot of what I was told in school ,but it’s those little bits of information that you gather that you remember. They’ll correct other people, that’s good. It gets passed on.