Solomon Smith Email & Phone Number

I have been a Youth worker for the past 12 years, mainly working in Lambeth. I was introduced into the world of youth work through a key worker who was assigned to mentor me through school. I was always getting in trouble at school and was seen as an extremely disruptive young man but I always felt that my mentor was the only one who took time to understand me. As a result I began volunteering as a youth worker in my estate in Brixton. I eventually I was born and bred on the Moorlands Estate, one of the most notorious estates in Brixton. Due to my reputation growing up it was a shock to a lot of people that I was actually doing work for the community. It felt like I was always expected to fail. In 2010 I enrolled on a degree course at Goldsmith University. I had always found education difficult and so this was an absolutely mind achievement for me. However 3 months into the course I already felt like I wanted to quit. As a result I was assigned a mentor who helped me organise myself better and also suggested I partake in a number of assessments. It was not until then that I was diagnosed as suffering from severe dyslexia. This meant that I had to change and adapt my whole approach to studying and learning which was a total shock to my system. In my final year of university (2013) I set up a Soup Kitchen in Brixton this year was one of the coldest winters I had experienced and I thought how are the people in the street going to survive? When my mum cooked me rice, peas, chicken and boiled potato I was good for the whole day. the question was why can’t we do that for the homeless?”I believe that with the right support and guidance those in need can be helped back on their feet. In April 2013 I was nominated and won the South London “Our Heroes” award for his work with the Soup Kitchen. I actually cried when they came to my house to tell me I won the award. I had never won anything before EVER!!

Listed skills include Event Management, Training, Event Planning, Management, and 21 others.