Our client, a 43-year-old female, came to us in July 2020 after having been made redundant from a job she loved and having gone through a heart-breaking divorce. She spent 8 months on a mental health ward for depression, eventually receiving 6 rounds of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). As a result, she could not care for herself or her young daughter.

Thankfully, after a long and hard journey, she is now stable. She lives with her parents, who help her take care of her daughter and is in a happy relationship with a supportive partner.

Our Employment Specialist (ES) began with fortnightly appointments with our client, where they built a great working relationship. Our client wanted to work in a rural area, in a job she hadn’t any experience in and also did not drive. During their meetings they discussed the pros and cons of this, whether it was realistic / doable, as well as highlighting her strength. Seeing our clients’ strengths written down on paper really gave her a boost in confidence.

During these discussions, our ES discovered that our client had a degree in print design and created her own jewellery, hair accessories and other arts and crafts. Our ES encouraged her to start attending and selling at local craft fairs. Our client took the plunge and you could see her confidence growing.

They then increased their meetings to weekly, instead of fortnightly, where they discussed her becoming a Teaching or Midday Assistant and what the steps towards this would look like. This type of job would be much more suitable for her as she would still be able to look after her daughter. Our ES worked with her on interview technique, with a list of do’s and don’ts, while applying for jobs.

After a long, up-and-down journey, all the hard work paid off and she got a job! She started in November 2021 as a Midday Assistant. She says ‘I am enjoying it so far. All the staff are really nice and I’m learning the children’s names!’.