Kurran has come off the substitute’s bench to tell us about how he has now landed a permanent role at the Foundation working on Premier League Inspires, hasn’t quite finished furnishing his flat, and is putting a brave face on the fortunes of his favourite football team.
***
It has been an exciting time for me since completing the first instalment of Foundation diaries last season.
I am well into the second year of the Foundation’s degree course run with the University of South Wales, and am now combining that with a permanent position as a Schools Educator working on the PL Inspires project.
PL Inspires is the Foundation’s programme for secondary schools working with young people who are low on confidence and self-esteem.
We go out and engage with pupils across the city delivering support and workshops and an alternative classroom experience to help the students improve their hopes of success in the future.
I had already been involved with PL Inspires as my second-year placement and, when Liam (Turner) moved on to another role within the Foundation, I applied for the position and was delighted to be successful.
It is a really fulfilling role, delivering either out at schools or when the young people visit Molineux, and is something I am really enjoying.
I have also been asked to lead on a new part of the project which is coming in soon, one-to-one and group mentoring for the young people.
It is something we recently trialled successfully which will now start in September and involves working with individuals or small groups on their practical awareness and social skills, either at Molineux or the Foundation Arena.
It is perhaps more intensive than the normal PL Inspires sessions and is largely discussion-based, finding out more about the young people, what skills they need and want to improve and working off that.
Working in general has been far better over recent months when we have been able to get back out into schools and delivering sessions in person.
Through lockdown the Foundation obviously needed to be more online-based and working with schools on Zoom and while we did our best, and it was still important to keep in touch, it is such a better environment to be able to go in and work with the students in person.
We all missed the social element which comes with face-to-face delivery and you can see the difference and can see how much the schools are enjoying staff visiting them again.
It has also meant we have been back in the office as a Foundation staff since last season’s diaries, and I have been able to get back to winding people up again!
It has been great to get back in again and I think we had all missed it!
Having said that, previous readers of the Foundation diaries may remember I am a keen Albion fan who goes home and away.
I know you are going to ask what I think about this season – do I have to answer?
Well, I am still going to games, up and down the country although it feels more like a chore than a pleasure at times. Why do I do it to myself? I have no idea.
Back in October I was marching around the office telling everyone we were going to win the league with a record points tally and now we are sat here 12th in the Championship!
Oh well. It helps cheer the office up and I will still hang on to the four points we took off Wolves last season – and the 5-1!
Elsewhere I did also move into my own place, ten minutes away from Molineux, and I have settled in nicely.
I still need some curtains though, I haven’t got any, and the sunlight keeps waking me up! It’s better than an alarm call!
It feels strange that I have taken that step from being a teenager into early adult life to now taking on more responsibility.
I can’t really believe it, it feels like I am fluking all of this – I mean what is going on?!
All joking aside things are going really well and I spent three days this week back in Cardiff for our residential for the degree, including a practical exam.
It was good for all the students to be together – we were due to sneak in a night out as well – and I am looking forward to going into the third year in September.
Thanks for reading!
