Mitica’s Story

Mitica lives in Harehills, Leeds, after moving between countries throughout his childhood. Mitica has an especially tumultuous home life, yet due to gang rivalry in his neighbourhood it is too unsafe to go outside and play. On top of his difficult home life, Mitica was absent from formal education for several years, meaning when he started Year 7 he was academically disengaged and socially isolated amongst his peers.

Mitica joined our programme excited to experience life away from Harehills, finding peace and stillness in nature as well as spending time with his peers outside of the classroom where he could build new bonds. From the first day at Basecamp, Mitica thrived. On his first trip, standing in front of Janet’s Foss Waterfall in Malham, he shouted:

“how can you not feel a million out of ten right now? This is so amazing!”

Mitica threw himself into every single activity at Basecamp, and was always the first to volunteer for every extra activity and challenge. Stepping outside of his comfort zone through adventure proved transformative for Mitica, as he gradually began to come out of his shell socially and build relationships with his peers and his Basecamp Coach. At the end of the programme, Mitica told us:

“Basecamp has given me so many opportunities to gain confidence and make new friends, I know now that I can do things I never thought I’d be able to do before, like climbing 3 mountains in one day! I’ve pushed myself to achieve things I never thought I could.”