From Lost to Leading: My Journey into Youth Leadership & Engagement

By Sami Gichki – Young Content Creator & #iWill Co-chair 

When the World Stopped…

The world had come to a standstill at the start of 2020 and, with it, the support systems that so many young people relied on crumbled. For people like me, the pandemic didn’t just press pause – it erased the road map entirely. Progress felt impossible, and suddenly the internet became both a safe space and, at times, a source of misery.

For me, the challenges were even more complex. I came to the UK from Balochistan at the age of 10, seeking asylum due to persecution. I had the privilege of coming with my family which isn’t always the case for young asylum seekers. My mum did everything she could to create a bubble of safety for me and my siblings – steadying the ship and offering us a sense of normality in a world that rarely felt stable.

But when I turned 16, everything began to unravel. 

Rock Bottom in a Windowless Room

The pandemic stripped away the already-limited guidance and support available to me at sixth form. And, my circumstances as an asylum seeker meant I wasn’t allowed to work. Further education also felt far out of reach. It was like watching everyone else leap forward while I stood still – stuck, not because of a lack of ambition, but because of barriers completely out of my control.

I began to lose motivation. I’d always been the child with the big ideas and the one who wanted to excel at everything. But that person faded away. I isolated myself, ignored my own needs, and fell into an endless doom-scroll of repetitive media. For over a year, I stayed there – mentally stagnant while the world moved on.

My mental health deteriorated and the thought of not existing felt more comforting than the life I was living. One of my lowest points was sitting alone in a hospital room with no windows, waiting hours just to be spoken to. The systems that were meant to support young people were not fit for purpose – and I didn’t want to be a victim of this.

Things slowly began to shift when I was signposted to different services and eventually found a therapist who truly saw me. Someone who understood my needs before trying to fit me into the boxes of a broken system. Someone who worked with me to find my solutions. 

It opened the door to something that’s now a huge part of my life: volunteering.

The Power of Being Trusted

It started small: welcoming people at the Cathedral every Sunday after mass. I’d be there, sash on, ready to greet the first person who walked through the door, without any supervision. I was given the keys to the office and was responsible for taking care of the space. It might sound small, but to me, the trust they placed in me was everything.

For the first time, I wasn’t a case file. 

I wasn’t a statistic. 

I was part of something.

That moment sparked my journey into youth leadership and engagement and I could start rebuilding the road map that had once felt erased. Since then, I’ve thrown myself into voluntary roles and have helped charities strengthen their work and bring youth voice into board-level decisions. As someone who is volunteering endlessly to make change, I call myself an  “unemployed workaholic”…and I love it.

But here’s the thing: youth engagement isn’t just about programmes and projects. It’s about trust. It’s about the people around us, the mentors, therapists, volunteers and strangers, who choose to see us as more than our circumstances. Being trusted by those at the Cathedral forced me to trust myself. It helped me develop self-belief I didn’t even know I was capable of and opened doors for change.

Support Doesn’t Have to be Complicated

My journey wouldn’t have been possible without the many people who supported me along the way. That’s what makes youth engagement so powerful. Everyone plays a role and everyone who interacts with a young person has the responsibility to support and elevate them. Many do. 

We as young people have complex needs but supporting us doesn’t have to be complicated. It starts by working with us. My needs won’t be the same as my siblings or my peers and that’s why listening matters; why trust matters. As long as we work with the young people we are directly supporting, the better we can enable them to grow and unlock their potential in their own way!

Because, when we feel supported and empowered, we don’t just dream about the future – we start shaping and embracing it. And become champions of youth leadership and change.

Are you a young person passionate to make change? Ready to be heard and enter youth leadership and engagement? Join us today.