A chance encounter started a series of events that changed her life.

Her words, her voice, her heritage have now been recognised through a national campaign.

Yasmin struggled at school because of her dyslexia – although she didn’t know that was the reason at the time. No matter how hard she tried, she fell behind. She especially hated reading aloud as other children would laugh at her. She used to think, “What’s wrong with me?” Before she left school, Yasmin remembers one teacher saying to her, “You’ll never get a job when you leave school.”

Yasmin did find work in a shop, but was introverted and lacked confidence. Then she bumped into Cindy, a former colleague. Cindy now worked at our Stone Hall Centre and, knowing Yasmin’s struggles, she encouraged her to come to the centre and improve her English skills.

Initially joining an Entry 3 English course, Yasmin was still not convinced that adult education was for her. But she had connected with Penny, a classmate. She convinced Yasmin to give it more time. She did, and from there her confidence and skills grew. Exams which at school made her panicked and forgetful, were manageable with support from staff. She says,

“When my teacher said, Yaz, you’ve passed, I couldn’t believe it – I was amazed.”

English connected Yasmin to family and identity

BAES teamed with the National Literacy Trust on the campaign Shakespeare & Me. Yasmin remembers telling her teacher at the launch, “I don’t get Shakespeare. I don’t like it, I’m not interested.” A couple of months later and Yasmin realised she did get Shakespeare, and even stood up in front of the class to talk about Hamlet and what it meant to her. She also watched Shakespeare at home on television with her sister – something the fourteen-year-old Yasmin could never have predicted.

The next National Literacy Trust campaign was Home Words, which focused on words used with family and friends that mean something to us, but not necessarily understood by others. Yasmin’s words were “Wey Aye Man”, a Geordie phrase which means “yes of course”, or simply “yes.” The phrase was important as it reminded Yasmin of her mum, who was born in Newcastle.

“The phrase was something my mum said to me when I was little. I’ve always remembered it, and it makes me happy because it’s where my mum came from.”

Along with her classmates, Yasmin submitted her phrase to the project where three local poets would use the words to create original poems. At the end-of-project event at the Library of Birmingham, Yasmin stood up in front of the audience to tell everyone about her words and what made them so special.

You can check out the campaign by following this link https://literacytrust.org.uk/communities/birmingham/home-words/a-celebration-of-your-home-words/

We are really proud to have played our part in Yasmin’s new love of learning. It has been a pleasure for everyone to see her confidence grow and the empowerment she feels now her voice finally has been heard.