Thirteen years ago, in February 2012, Kieran began a journey that would quietly but profoundly shape the course of his life – a Venture Scotland programme. Now, over a decade later, Kieran reflects on the legacy of that experience.
I left secondary school during the recession after the financial crash; I had fine grades, but not enough in that economy. So, I didn’t go to university with my friends, and I couldn’t get a job; money was always tight, incredibly tight.
I was on job seekers allowance. It was demoralising, signing on at the Job Centre once every two weeks, filling out applications that you never hear back from. I was bouncing around trying to find stuff to do. My confidence was low after a year out of work and doing virtually nothing.
I had done other programmes, and it just felt like factory farming; you were in, you did a thing, and you were out; there was no level of actual involvement. It was just a massive volume of people, and it became a box-ticking exercise, really. So, getting the option to join Venture Scotland was a relief for me. I remember it starting with a 1:1 meeting where they asked me about myself, and gave a little rundown about what the programme was…and immediately Venture Scotland just felt different from other programmes I’d been involved in. It felt like it actually mattered, like I mattered – like I was a person involved in this programme rather than just, you know, a name, a photograph or a number.
I don’t think that’s a high bar to clear – no offence to Venture Scotland. All these programmes were meant to be support services, so the bare minimum should be treating people like human beings, as individuals. Coming to Venture Scotland – it kind of felt like that bit in the Wizard of Oz, where she steps out of the house and everything is suddenly in colour? Looking back, that’s how I remember it feeling.
It’s so hard to quantify how much changed in my life has changed because of Venture Scotland. After Venture Scotland, there’s been noticeable leapfrogs. I can trace most of the big decisions that I’ve made back to VS, in a way that I probably don’t think about as much as I should. And then I got to go through the Raleigh programme.
I think one of the things I picked up throughout my time at VS was learning how to handle people going through tough days. It was quite a big one because, at the end of the days on Raleigh, there were always a few folk who were just done. They were well out of their comfort zone; they’re sore, maybe a bit scared. But having seen it before, through VS – I had a pretty good sense of what they needed and what they didn’t, to be able to help them to get through it. I think a huge part of the experience was getting through things and helping others to shake off or work through how they were feeling to be able to get what needed to be done, done.
After my VS programme ended, we came back to the real world, and it just felt much more navigable than before. I felt that there was an actual possibility to make changes; like the circumstances we’ve been in before can change and this doesn’t have to be life. It felt like I got my agency back, the ability to change things.
I’m a lot more settled today; I have work and a bit of money, so many more life skills and everything feels a lot less daunting. I know that there’s a lot more that I want to do in life, and I’m not sure which step to take next – and that’s when I find myself doing something like the Camino Del Santiago trek! [You can read more about Kieran’s epic hike with fellow past participant Lewis, from 2024, here]
The physical act of walking – walking is always good – and walking in unfamiliar territory with new people who are all united by a common goal, I think that makes a big difference.
Kieran’s story is one of many that show the real, lasting difference Venture Scotland can make. It’s a reminder of why our work matters – because when young people are given the chance to reset, reconnect and rediscover their value, they go on to do incredible things. Let’s keep making that possible!