This week, we’d like to help a 16-year-old boy called Jay, who was physically and verbally abused by his dad, and forced to miss school to work 14-hour days.

Jay’s parents separated when he was younger, and his mum moved several times to keep him and his brother safe. Jay has lived in six different houses and attended 10 different schools.

When Jay was 13, his dad took him into his care. He was kind and generous at first, but after a few months he started physically and verbally abusing Jay. He made him work 14-hour days doing heavy labouring and deliveries. He was getting almost no pay, very little sleep, lost weight and missed a lot of school.

Earlier this year, Jay was returned to his mum’s care. He arrived crying, and has really struggled to process everything that happened to him. His mum now cares for Jay and his younger brother on her own and is very isolated.

Jay has been getting support from a family hub, and has opened up more about the abuse and criminal activity he witnessed while living with his dad. On top of all of this, Jay also has some ongoing health problems and needs regular medical care and monitoring.

Impressively, Jay managed to pass his GCSEs despite all the school he’d missed, and he will be starting college next week  There is so much he needs that would make this transition a lot easier for him. We’d like to help give Jay the best start to college he could possibly have.

We'd like to provide things such as a laptop, some clothes, a mattress, bedding and a compact clothes rail to make the best use of space in his room. He would love to join his local gym if possible as well - it makes a big difference to his wellbeing. We'd also like to provide some things for his little brother (who is starting secondary school). 

*Name has been changed and stock image used.