Charlotte Liddell: The First Minister believed in me… That helped me believe in myself

Charlotte Liddell last year became the first winner of a contest for young women to be mentored by Nicola Sturgeon for a year.

The 21-year-old, from Buckhaven in Fife, has been a young carer since the age of 12 and left school at the age of 14.

She is a mother of two young sons and volunteers at Fife Gingerbread lone parent charity, where she helps young mums and dads.

I WASN’T keen on applying for the mentorship to start with, as I didn’t believe I ever stood a chance of winning.

After I found out I had been selected, I didn’t take it in for the first few days.

When I first met Nicola Sturgeon I was nervous and felt like I didn’t deserve the mentorship but she helped me realise, despite not having a great education and becoming a parent so young, that I did deserve it.

Over the year I have had four private meetings with Nicola Sturgeon, discussing whatever we wanted to. I’d like to think she is a friend.

I was invited to a lot of events she attended. I spoke at an NHS family nurse event in Dundee, where I was able to thank my family nurse for all the support she had given me.

I crossed the Queensferry Crossing when it opened. I spoke in front of Prince Harry and Meghan at a reception at Holyrood Palace during their visit to Edinburgh and attended the Queen’s Garden Party.

I had the opportunity to travel to London for three days where I met Jamie Oliver and had a tour of Westminster to see what the First Minister does in London.

I met Judy Murray at a gender equality sports event and I presented the trophy at the Scottish Open golf. That was in front of a lot of people and was a live broadcast – they only told me afterwards.

I have two sons – Kayden, aged five, and Nolan, who is three.

Now I feel I am more confident. As a young parent, I felt I was sometimes not treated as an adult or listened to.

Now people think if the First Minister has time to listen to me, I might have something worth saying.

If people say anything negative about young parents, it doesn’t matter, as to me it is a positive which helped me get to work with the First Minister.

I have also had care of my 16-year-old sister for about four years, and before I didn’t see that as a big thing, just helping a sibling. Now I am really proud of it.

I have artwork in an exhibition at the moment and am looking to publish a children’s book.

Last week, after taking time out of employment due to a mental health situation, I found I had been successful in applying for a job as a nursing auxiliary at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

They told me my interview was exceptional.

I am proud of that and everything else I’ve done.

The First Minister helped me a lot in really valuing what I have done in my life.

I believe in myself now. The advice I would give to the next mentee is to be honest with yourself.

Most importantly, never just fit into a box because other people expect you to.