Aaron’s Story

As Nelson’s Journey marks the significant milestone of having supported 10,000 children and young people we spoke with Aaron.

Read his story below:

“When I was 12 years old my sister Sonia died from cystic fibrosis. She was 23 years old. Her death wasn’t a surprise as we knew her life wasn’t going to be long due to her condition, but it was all very sudden for me: one day I had an older sister and the next day, I didn’t. I was initially quite angry about her death and didn’t understand why it was happening to me. That’s when my mum referred me to Nelsons Journey.

The first intervention was going to meet Ryan at Smiles House and talking everything through with him. He recommended that I go to the NJ youth club near me, in Diss, to meet other people that had been through similar things. I was quite anxious at first but settled in very quickly and made some great friends. It made me realise I wasn’t alone. The next step was going to Hilltop for the residential which, although it was emotional, it was good to meet more people and spend time in the outdoors. This helped start my passion for working in the outdoors as an instructor, which is what I’m currently doing now. After my residential I decided I want to become a young volunteer to give back to NJ what it had given to me. Being a young volunteer led to being on the youth panel which meant I was able to help make decisions that influenced what the charity did to help young people. Also as a young volunteer I took fundraising upon myself by doing a skydive for the charity from 15,000ft raising an amazing £1320 – enough to pay NJ back for the support they gave me and my brother.

I now work at an outdoor activity centre which specialises in working with young people from all different backgrounds. Also, in my spare time, I’ve just started being a community first responder volunteering my time to help other people the best I can. I think a big part of me wanting to help people is to help them through similar experiences to my own. NJ helped nurture this part of me and were a big part of my life and I’m so thankful I was able to be helped by them.”

Donate £10 here to help Nelson’s Journey support the next 10,000 children and young people