We spoke to Timi, 26, about her experiences with MAMA Youth, one of our charity partners

I love to tell people about Mamma Youth because I think my situation was just so difficult and honestly, my experience with them was genuinely life changing. I was almost at breaking point when I found them. I had been miserable in a job in the civil engineering industry and things were happening in my personal life and almost like ‘that’ I was homeless. That was a really difficult time for me.

It was 2020 I was homeless and I started making YouTube videos and things like that while I was couch surfing with my friends through the pandemic. That was a really difficult time for me. Then seven months into that, I got housed by Brent Council and I was sent details of Mamma Youth Project by the job centre.

I kind of did the application in the hopes that I would get onto this training programme, but I honestly wasn't too confident that I would. Luckily, I got onto the course learning how to create media from start to finish.

I think I thought I was going to be in a little media camp making films with my friends, but it was a lot more intense than that. I think people from the outside looking in don't really understand the thought and technicality that goes into creating content. So that was a bit of a shocker. There's a lot of hard work that goes into it. It was quite military, which I did enjoy but I wasn't expecting.

Mamma Youth really instilled in us a lot of discipline like although you're so lucky to have this fun job, it's not all fun and games; things have to get done within a good timeframe, within budget. It wasn't just learning how to make media it was about communication, teamwork, working well with one another, professionalism, self-development. The whole package.

I think it takes a lot of bravery and courage to try something new. And do something different and just kind of have faith in yourself because, you know, no one's paying you to be there. They do pay for transport and food and things like that, but no-one’s promising you anything apart from the fact that you're going to learn something.

Because of my living situation, I was very open and honest with the whole team about it. They just provided me with so much support in terms of even just sitting and chatting with me and making sure that I wasn't panicking too much and giving me that reassurance that things are going to be fine.

After the course, I actually had multiple job offers, I felt like I was the queen of the land! I think that was probably the best part; having options after I finished the course which I didn't even really think would be the case. 

I got offered a job in Liverpool with Lime Pictures, and they helped pay for me to move. Mamma Youth negotiated a relocation fee for me, so I was able to get out of my really difficult housing situation.

I loved my time with Lime, I was there for a year working in their digital department and it was just amazing. I got to work with the talent as well as in so many different departments within Lime. I did some time in the story team. I produced three digital documentaries for them and a digital miniseries.

I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t done the course. I was almost at breaking point when I found them. I had been miserable in a job in the civil engineering industry and things were happening in my personal life and almost like ‘that’ I was homeless. When you're in a situation like that, it can be so hard to see a way out. It was a sad time, but becoming homeless was almost the thing that needed to happen for me, it was the push for me to go and explore different things.

I love to tell people about Mama Youth because I think for me, my situation was just so difficult and honestly, my experience with them was genuinely life changing. It actually did change my life and it sounds so cliché, but it was just the perfect opportunity for me to make a change in my life that I really needed.

MAMA Youth is committed to working within the media to help the industry become more diverse and therefore more representative of the audiences it serves. 

It provides on-the-job production training and placements to enable young people experiencing multiple disadvantages to find and retain quality entry-level jobs within the industry.