Mildred's story

Fourteen-year-old Mildred recently moved to Dagenham and started at a new school.

Moving to a different school was very difficult for Mildred. She was picked on and badly bullied when she first arrived because she was the new girl and didn't know anyone.

She says: "There was a group of children that weren't very nice.

"They started picking on me and calling me names and stuff like that. And one time, they all sort of rushed me at the bus stop. And it was not very nice and they hurt me."

To fight back, she became a bully herself.

"I thought it would make me feel better if I bullied them back. It didnt make me feel good at all because I don't like seeing people upset. All the time I was thinking, why am I doing it because its not helping me, its not going to change what happened. So I just stopped bullying them."

Mildred felt so bad about the bullying that she didnt want to go to school. She kept going only because she wants to do well in the future.

Now she regularly comes to YWCA Dagenham where she feels safe and able to talk to people who accept her for who she is. Nobody judges her for what has happened. Instead YWCA workers help Mildred focus on and build on the positive things in her life. Like her determination to do well.

Mildred isn't sure of what career to aim for but she is quite certain she needs to be financially independent and knows she needs a good job.

"You have to be able to look after yourself. I can't fall back on my parents. I don't know what I want to do in the future yet, but when I do I'm going to focus on it and do very well at it!"