Our volunteer, Candy, second from left. Candy, a full-time financial consultant, joined us earlier this year as a volunteer mentor for our Mentoring Programme! With the flexibility she had in her schedule, she was able to balance her time to come alongside YGOS to impact the lives of the youth. Read on to find out what inspired her to do so! When you first started volunteering with us, what were some things you looked forward to? Candy: “I was mentally prepared that mentoring

For the whole year, Hilary* had been failing all her subjects. The fearful possibility of retaining in the same grade loomed ahead. Hilary just wanted to give up — she hated school anyway, often skipping classes by calling in sick. One night, Hilary tearfully confided in her mentor, Deborah, who was also a Counselor at Youth Guidance Outreach Services (YGOS). She shared that all year she had been failing at her subjects in school, and was fearful of retaining. It also turned

Hi everyone! I'm Bryan. Growing up, I had troubles with managing my emotions and even till now, I'd have small breakdowns because I didn't know how to express myself. I also had confidence and anger issues from being bullied in primary school. I was 14 years old, but little did I know that my life was gonna go down a very different road from then on. YGOS reached out to me through the school and I can't express how much I love my school, A.B Secondary School (name of school h

"Wesley is my mentor and Tchoukball coach. We enjoy each other’s company: we both like to joke around and play harmless pranks on others.” Once a youth-at-risk, Warner knew of YGOS through the School Social Work Programme. He is now a volunteer. “I was kinda playful in school. There was once when I fought in the toilet because of a conflict. I was referred to YGOS because of the trouble I created for my teachers, even till the days when I was in ITE.” When asked about his re

Steven got to know of YGOS through the School Social Work Programme for rioting at the age of 14. It is perhaps fair to say that he was notorious for using violence to deal with all kinds of conflicts with his peers and school authorities. Together with his caseworkers - Wilson and Zebedee - Steven dealt with his deep-seated frustrations and struggles towards his school, family, and peers. While it took a bang of his fist on the table to endorse his determination, Steven had

"I will never forget the most dramatic night of my life - the night when I got into a gang fight.” When Wallace got home the next morning, he received a traumatic phone call from his mother saying that the police were searching high and low for him. It was the first time he actually got into trouble with the police. He was frightened. He had no idea what will befall him. “Being in a gang led to many consequences for me and this was just one of my many epic life experiences as

Surely the mention of a stress ball would conjure up the image of a yellow, squishy ball with a goofy smiley face. Well, the stress ball for Keith took a different form. Struggling with anger management, Keith was prone to using physical aggression. He had kicked his teacher once; quarrelling and fighting with his peers are not new to him either. Fortunately for Keith, he found a healthier way to defuse his anger and stress - Tchoukball. Through the PEARLS Tchoukball program

Perhaps the first thing you would learn about Yavin is that he hates school. To Yavin, nobody in school cared for him or understood him: not his school counsellor who made him felt guilty about his poor academic performance; nor his classmates who irked him by spraying deodorant in class, even though they knew that it would trigger his migraine. Certainly also not his teachers, who hastily attributed his tiredness in class to late-night gaming. Yavin also didn’t click well wi

When Samuel was at a tender age of 11, his parents separated due to his dad’s abusive tendencies. Although the separation gave Samuel more peace and comfort, he also felt a great sense of loss. Since then, Samuel started hanging out at the neighbourhood basketball courts to cope with his loneliness. “A YGOS staff approached me one day as he spotted me loitering around aimlessly at the courts. He reached out to me and invited me to their centre to play and participate in their

Jaden is a 14-year-old youth who regularly participates in the Youth Drop-In at YGOS Ang Mo Kio Centre for the past year. “It’s my third favourite place in Singapore! It’s the place that I spend the most time at, besides my home and school.” Jaden likes the engagement at the Drop-In Centre. As a boy who isn’t really fond of homework and studying in general, Jaden finds fun in the games and comfort in the relationships YGOS offer. “I am particularly close to Sean, my mentor.

"At the 2018 Chinese New Year steamboat event that the Ang Mo Kio Outreach Centre organised, I was so paranoid about getting tapeworm infection because I don’t know whether the staff washed the fish before adding it into the soup”, Walden recalled. “And my friend was attempting to use three chopsticks! What a joke! I will definitely remember these two memories for life.” Thankfully, no one got an infection, else it would be a celebration turned disaster. Walden first knew of

Her boyfriend was her everything. Naturally, the break up left a deep wound in Jenna’s heart. Ever since, she lost her direction in life. Broken, Jenna channelled her hurt towards others. She became blunt and bitter, neglecting others and eventually herself. Jenna locked herself up in her room and didn’t attend school. Even her parents had a difficult time trying to connect with Jenna. “During this bleak period of my life, I was placed under the care of a caseworker from Yout