From lacking motivation to feeling excited about work again...

Stephen was feeling unmotivated and depressed about finding work and not having any success in securing new employment… then he found Twining Enterprise and his Employment Specialist, Sonali, who went “above and beyond” to support him in looking for new work.  Here Stephen tells us about his experience in his own words…

“I started working with Twining Enterprise at the beginning of June. I was referred to them by the Job Centre Plus who I had been working with a few months prior. I had to resign from my job and seek assistance to find new work with the Job Centre.

Before working with Twining Enterprise, I was working in retail and had been doing that work for more than 7 years.  From doing the same work repetitively for so long I feel drained, unmotivated and depressed. I resigned; this gave me an opportunity to gain a new perspective on life and me.

A couple of months went by, and I still was not having any success in securing employment. Then I was given the opportunity to be referred to an employment specialist group who would assess my situation and see what help and support I needed in gaining employment.

I was put in touch with Sonali Choudhury who would be my employment support worker. From the start she was very friendly and proactive and really took time to understand my circumstances. She went above and beyond to really support me and started recommending possible job roles I should apply for and information about employment once I found a job.

I started to feel more motivated and enthusiastic about going into a new job. She even helped me with interview preparation and practice, getting hold of one of her colleagues who worked in recruitment. I was able to have a video meeting with them both and they started giving me tips and advice on how to be successful in an interview. That advice and mock practice worked really well as I took it on board and used it in my interviews that I had.

Even though I was with Twining Enterprise and Sonali for a short time, their support and advice gave me that extra boost and I can now say I have successfully gained employment and I feel really excited to start working again.”

Please note - This charitable project is funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund.