From Quiet Beginnings to Warehouse Manager: Mr. A’s Journey of Resilience
Mr A was initially referred to Amble Employment Hub (run by Community Action Northumberland) by his advisor with DWP with a view to gaining some IT skills. At first arrived he was accompanied by his brother due to his anxieties, and he explained that since he had witnessed the passing of his father he had suffered badly with his mental health. We discussed Solid Foundations but at that time he didn’t feel ready to take on too much. However, he started coming to the employment hubs regularly supported by his mother and/or brother. Slowly over the following weeks, Mr A developed the confidence to come to the Hub on his own, enjoyed speaking with others and of course enjoyed a cuppa and a slice of cake, and used Learn My Way to start developing his IT skills. He also felt able to travel to Alnwick on his own to go to his DWP appointments and agreed to join SF to take up counselling with Cygnus. He successfully completed the counselling course and both he and his counsellor reported that the sessions had helped enormously.
Once his confidence had built, Mr A said he was interested in volunteering and after talking to other members of the group who volunteered in local charity shops, he decided that might suit him. His worker Tracey accompanied him to the Alexa Dog Charity’s shop in Amble, and he started volunteering for them two days a week. A few weeks later the manager of the shop called in to the Amble Employment Hub to thank us for introducing Mr A to them and ask us to look out for other potential volunteers. She was so pleased with his contribution, she asked him to work a third day a week and gave him a new role title of Warehouse Manager, in which role he accepts donation of furniture and repairs / paints them ready for sale.