CARLY* was just a little girl when her mother died of a heroin overdose.

She’s spent much of her childhood being moved from home to home – sometimes living with family friends or in temporary foster care.

The longest she’s lived anywhere is a few years – the shortest was a matter of weeks.

She says she was a teachers’ nightmare.

Hell bent on being disruptive she chatted in class, argued with her teachers, swore and refused to do her work.

Looking back she knows why she was behaving so badly.

“I’d act up really to try to get attention because I wasn’t getting any at home,” she says.

“I thought if I kicked off I’d get at least some sort of attention.”

Carly is now in her early teens but seems mature beyond her years.

An intelligent, chatty young woman, she has put her past life behind her.

She is doing well in school and plans to do her GCSEs.

And she puts it down to a project called LINX, run by Southampton charity The Hampton Trust.

LINX is a 12-week programme for young people aged 12 to 18 who may have experienced violence or abuse.

It focuses on developing empathy and encourages them to look at the consequences of their behaviour.

Jenna McGregor, the project’s Hampshire coordinator, says: “When young people live in violent environments and they’re exposed to trauma, they react and protect themselves from it. What tends to happen is they continue to protect themselves so much they develop an ‘I don’t care’ attitude.

That’s when it becomes dangerous because that’s your entry into the criminal justice system.”

Carly got involved with LINX when they came into her school.As well as workshops, there was also a practical element.

When she talked about her living situation, Jenna was instrumental in helping get Carly into a new home.

“I was living with family who didn’t look after me,” she says.

“They didn’t really care about me.

Money I had for birthdays and Christmases was stolen and spent on drugs.”

An important part of the work that LINX did with Carly was teaching her that this is not normal behaviour.

“At first when I was around drugs I didn’t really know what they were. I thought that must just be what adults do. Then I came to realise that it wasn’t normal. That’s another thing that LINX helped me with. It made me realise it wasn’t something to have around a child.

“When I was younger the people who took drugs around me knew that I didn’t know what it was, so they thought it was OK, but when I started to realise they still didn’t stop.”

LINX helped Carly to move and she is now happy living elsewhere.

She also has the ongoing support of Jenna at LINX.

Carly says that one of the important things that the project taught her about is empathy.

“I might have had a bit of a bad day but that doesn’t mean I should make everyone else’s bad,” she says.

“It also teaches you the outcomes of stupid decisions that you think are just harmless, like stupid teenage behaviour.

You think of all the bad things that could happen because of it.

“LINX helps you know you are in control of the decisions you make as a person. Someone else might set ground rules but you’re the only one who makes the decision of whether to do something or not.”

Since the LINX project was set up in Hampshire it has worked with almost 300 young people in the local area. It was created by the Hampton Trust, based in Southampton.

The project has also been rolled out to Gloucestershire, Isle of Wight and Devon, helping hundreds more young people like Carly to turn their lives around.

It often works with young offenders and has good results, with 95 per cent not reoffending within a year of completing the project.

“I feel lucky that I got to work with LINX,” says Carly.

“If I hadn’t gone into the programme I’d still be living with drugs and still acting up in school.

“I wouldn’t have a great attitude, I’d just be causing trouble. I don’t think I would have come to school that often and wouldn’t have done my GCSEs.

“I have no idea what is in my future but no drugs, none of all the stuff that’s gone on – just a normal life.”

*For information about LINX, visit hamptontrust.org.uk or call 023 8021 3520.

*not her real name