George Hogg
George Hogg won the Participant of the Year (under 18) award at the 2019 CACT Awards.
George, 17, has been involved in CACT's Thanet mentoring programme since September 2018.
Coming from a background of substance misuse, George has been on a significant journey this year. After meeting weekly with John Lake, CACT's Thanet Mentoring Officer, George now takes part in a Work Ready programme to acquire the skills and attributes to gain employment.
He says:
"This time last year, I had a lot of problems with drug misuse and associated with a lot of gang problems, things like that. I started working with John from CACT and he's helped me develop myself and get my life back on track, which it has."
George now engages some of his friends in the Work Ready programme, supporting young people with substance misuse issues and links to county lines himself.
"I am looking forward to starting a Peer Advisor course so I can help people who went through the same as me," he says.