A tailored solution for Ally
Ally was suffering from PTSD from domestic violence and was also experiencing depression and anxiety. She was referred via the IAPT i.e. from her mental health care team.
At the time Ally was unemployed and a single parent looking to get back into work. Her aspiration was to get back into the fashion industry, as she had dress making and tailoring qualifications and skills as well as degree in fashion.
She was referred to our Team Leader Anita who worked with her in a tailored approach specifically to help with building her confidence. They worked together, identifying her skills and strengths, hobbies and interests and and linking those to the workplace.
Together they tailored her CV to the jobs that she was applying for within high-end retail environments.
They then moved on to interview practice working through good answers to typical interview questions but also identifying particular questions that Ally felt anxious about. So they explored questions that would make her anxious practising and talking it through to reduce her anxiety.
Ally was referred to us in November 2017, and was offered a fantastic job in retail at Tommy Hilfiger within three weeks of getting support from our service. However, she is still regularly in touch with Anita and has had support and encouragement to turn her job offer into a rich and rewarding career.
Anita encouraged her to speak to the manager of the tailoring section of Tommy Hilfiger when she started. As a result Ally moved from general retail to a customer focused tailoring role.
She really came a long way, initially she displayed a lot of symptoms of depression, she was highly emotional and tearful. Her confidence increased and she quickly developed a more positive outlook. She started to develop motivation and self-belief.
Anita, Team Leader
Thanks to ongoing support from Anita, Ally then sought out a fashion company at the Elephant and Castle and was given a work placement doing dressmaking and design which she really shone at. As a result they invited her to undertake a level three teaching qualification and today she teaches there once a week on top of her job working in tailoring at Tommy Hilfiger.
During her time being supported by Twining Enterprise her mental wellbeing improved immensely, so much so that she started some self-help groups for victims of domestic violence and has been discharged from the IAPT service.
She’s just really thriving, she says when she looks back she doesn’t recognise the old person!
Thank you for all your help and support I’ve grown so much with you and I’m in a much better place.
Ally, client
