When Harriet Craig first joined the Fun in the Wilderness program as a Year 10 student providing peer support for children in care, it sparked a passion that would continue long after graduating from high school.

Today, the third-year medical student is part of AnglicareSA’s Mentor Program providing something every young person deserves: a trusted adult who is there, week after week.

Harriet said it was a natural continuation of a journey that began during high school.

“As a group of naïve Year 10 students, we had never done anything like it before,” Harriet said. “At first, it was difficult while we worked on building relationships with the children.

“But after a few weeks, it became so clear that they were enjoying it, and we were enjoying it too.”

The Fun in the Wilderness program, co-developed by AnglicareSA and Wilderness School, provides peer support to help children in care develop social skills in a safe, inclusive, and trauma-informed environment. At the same time, students in the Wilderness Duke of Edinburgh program gain practical skills as well as a meaningful volunteer experience.

Harriet was among the first students involved in the program, participating through Years 10 and 11 before helping hand it over to younger students.

Recently, she returned to Wilderness School to meet the latest group carrying the program forward.

“When you start something like that, you hope it lasts,” she said. “Going back and seeing that it is still running was really amazing and rewarding.”

“There are so many young people and families involved in the foster care system, but unless you have an opportunity like this, you do not really understand what life is like for them.”

While the activities were always fun, she said it was the relationships that made the biggest impression on her during her time in the program.

“There are a few children I still think about a lot,” Harriet said. “Hearing from their parents that the kids would spend the whole week asking when they would see us again made us realise we were doing something that really mattered.

“There are so many young people and families involved in the foster care system, but unless you have an opportunity like this, you do not really understand what life is like for them.”

Through the Fun in the Wilderness program, Harriet and her fellow students were also introduced to AnglicareSA’s Mentor Program, which matches paid community mentors with a young person in care to support them in developing life skills and focussing on achieving specific goals.

Harriet said she immediately knew she wanted to continue making a difference after high school, and for the last two-and-a-half years she has been a mentor to a young girl she was matched with when she was 14.

“Our relationship has remained constant through both challenging and positive times. We have explored Adelaide through trips to the Royal Adelaide Show, the Adelaide Fringe, the beach, rock climbing, mini golf, and the MOD Science Museum.

“We have also attended career expos, talked about future study and employment, and begun preparing for independent living.”

 

 

Harriet said she immediately knew she wanted to continue making a difference after high school, and for the last two-and-a-half years she has been a mentor to a young girl she was matched with when she was 14.

“Our relationship has remained constant through both challenging and positive times. We have explored Adelaide through trips to the Royal Adelaide Show, the Adelaide Fringe, the beach, rock climbing, mini golf, and the MOD Science Museum.

“We have also attended career expos, talked about future study and employment, and begun preparing for independent living.”

Harriet said her age was a unique strength as a mentor of a young person in that being only a few years older than her mentee, it allowed her to connect differently.

“I am not a teacher, a social worker, or a carer,” she said. “I can encourage her in a way that she might hear differently, and it is really about being a positive role model.”

She also credited her experience in Fun in the Wilderness for giving her confidence and understanding long before she became a mentor.

“I learnt so much at school about working with young people and understanding that everyone has different experiences and different trauma.

“But really, I think my mentee has taught me more than anything.”

Harriet said she was passionate too about continuing to inspire the next generation of Wilderness School students to continue the journey she began.

One of her former classmates is currently waiting to be matched with a mentee, and Harriet now returns to speak with students participating in Fun in the Wilderness about the opportunities that lie beyond school.

“It is important that they hear about it,” she said. “They are already passionate about making a difference and need to know that amazing and meaningful opportunities like this exist.”

AnglicareSA’s Mentoring Program is run with the support of the Department of Education, the Department for Child Protection, as well as our own philanthropic support across metropolitan Adelaide and surrounding areas, including the Barossa Valley and Victor Harbor.

Community service mentors are paid for their time and undergo a screening and recruitment process, including a Working With Children Check and National Police Check, in order to work with children and young people.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor and having a positive impact on the life of a young person in care, please contact AnglicareSA via mentoring@anglicaresa.com.au