My journey - young people's travel journey to independence

Jack was referred to Community Connecting by his college. He had expressed a desire to become more independent and travel to college on his own.

During their first meeting Jack and his worker discussed the travel training process and Community Connecting, Jack decided he would like to register.

Jack was already confident in walking around his local area and was independently walking to his volunteering position in his local town.

The journey to college included walking and bus travel. As Jack was already familiar with the route to the bus stop the bus journey was the focus.

To help build Jack's confidence training started by doing the journey on a non-college day at a quiet time, so it was not busy with other students. This enabled Jack to practice the journey and have time to discuss any concerns without having to rush off to college.

Jack's training included:

•  How to buy a ticket using his college ID
•  Using the correct bus stops
•  Reading the bus timetable
•  Using 'what if' scenarios to discuss strategies if there was a problem

When Jack felt ready, he travelled on the bus to college and back independently, the journey went well, Jack was ready to travel alone. As part of the travel training process a quality check was carried out and Jack was deemed safe to travel that journey.

He now travels to and from college independently and enjoys his new independence.

Supported by Lindsey Neale
Community Connecting
June 2021

Jack said:

I feel happy and confident to get on the bus now

Ethan was already working with Community Connecting to gain some volunteer work.

He agreed with his community co-ordinator that travel training to his local town and back home would be another good step to increasing independence.

Ethan had, on occasion travelled on a bus with his family to town and back but wanted to be able to do this by himself.

To start with Ethan applied for a concessionary bus pass to help with the cost of travelling but found out he was not eligible. With the support of Community Connecting Ethan was shown how to pay for a bus ticket with his bank card.

He was supported to plan the route and find out the times of the buses from his local village bus stop.

To help learn the bus timetable Ethan downloaded the local bus company app to his phone which shows him live updates of where his bus is along the route. This training was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As well as learning how to catch the bus, use his bus pass and read the timetable, Ethan had to learn the new safety rules for getting on a bus.

• wearing a face mask when on the bus
• not sitting on blocked off rows of seats
• keeping a distance from other members of the public.

Ethan adapted very well to all the safety measures and was very calm in his manner, listening to advice from his community co-ordinator and parents.

For the first few sessions Ethan had one-to-one support from his community co-ordinator to college and back. He did excellently and gradually over a few sessions, started to do more of the journey by himself until eventually he was doing all the journey independently.

Supported by Melinda Guinness-Yendle
Community Connecting
October 2021

Josh was referred to Community Connecting by his job coach. Josh had finished college and wanted to find paid employment. He understood the need for getting as many skills for work as he could and voluntary work would give him some experience and skills to add to his CV.

During the profiling process it was identified that although Josh's goal was to gain a voluntary opportunity, he would also benefit from being able to get there independently. If he could travel further, he would be able to apply for a wider range of jobs.

There were two options that would get him to his volunteer role; walking or a bus route that would take him there. Josh chose to walk first as this would build his confidence.
Travel training began, this included:

• Discussing hazards
• Safe places
• Safe crossing points
• In case of emergency (ICE) card
• Josh needed a fully charged mobile phone

After learning the route on the first week Josh would lead the way demonstrating that he could remember the way. The focus was then on where to cross and being aware of potential hazards along the route.

Then he was ready a quality check was carried out and Josh was deemed safe to walk independently. He now walks to and from his voluntary role independently.

Supported by Lindsey Neale
Community Connecting
January 2021

Holly was referred to Community Connecting by her college. During an annual review she expressed a desire to work on her self-confidence and access her local community.

For the first meeting Holly met with the community co-ordinator using the virtual meetings platform Microsoft Teams, due to COVID-19 pandemic. They discussed the service and how the travel training process works. Holly was happy to proceed and decided to register.

Holly wanted to continue via Teams meeting working together to complete the profiling paperwork and getting to know each other, ready to begin travel training.
She wanted to begin by travelling into her local town.

The first step was to find a bus route that suited Holly's needs. As soon as they were able to, travel training began.

On the first day Holly was nervous but focussed on what she wanted to achieve and over the next few weeks she learnt the route, asked for her ticket independently and knew where her bus stopped.

Holly's confidence grew and when she was ready, fading began. It was agreed that Holly would travel on the bus and her community co-ordinator would meet her when she got to her destination.

As part of the travel training process, different aspects are covered, including;

• 'what if' scenarios in case of problems
• safe places to ask for help
• In Case of Emergency (I.C.E) cards
• safe road crossings
• personal safety

Holly is now travelling to her local town independently and has even taught members of her family the bus route she uses so they can get the bus to town.

Supported by Lindsey Neale
Community Connecting
August 2021

Holly said:

I didn't feel confident before, now I feel confident to get the bus