Helping Our Tenants Back Into Employment!
Community Gateway is thrilled to have helped yet another tenant, Sarah Ayles, back into employment through their More Positive Together programme.
Sarah, who lives with her seven-year old daughter, told Community Gateway why she decided to turn to the initiative, More Positive Together, after being out of work for almost 10 years.
“I went to University and got a degree but after falling pregnant and becoming a single parent, I couldn’t afford to work.”
Sarah told us how whilst being out of work, her confidence began to deteriorate, as she felt she had a lot of barriers to overcome to get back into work, such as childcare support, transport, a gap in her CV and social isolation. Before she knew it, she didn’t know a way out.
“Deep down, I always wanted to be a veterinary nurse but never had the confidence to go for it, let alone know where to start. Then one day, I heard about the Community Gateway programme that helps people back into employment. I contacted them and have never looked back.”
After several one to one meetings with her CG mentor, Ve Bennett, the two of them explored how Sarah could overcome her barriers and put steps in place to boost her confidence and social skills.
Sarah began attending the CG ‘Feel Good Friday’, CG Job Club, and enrolled onto a 10 week Confidence training course, which also allowed her to pass her 1st Aid Course whilst on the project.
Sarah gushed about the confidence course and began searching for another opportunity with Ve – this time, to take another step towards her dream career of becoming a veterinary nurse. Fast forward and Sarah has just begun an Apprenticeship at a pet healthcare practice and is looking forward to the future.
Sarah added:
“Thank you to Community Gateway and the team on the More Positive Together programme; you’ve truly changed my life.”