An employment support service that provides routine and stability

A life altering change in circumstances left Holly needing to re-evaluate her current working contract and then, following a difficult time with her then boss, found herself out of work just as the UK economy was crashing.  Our Employment Specialist Monica stayed alongside Holly during this incredibly tough time, providing practical job searching support with CVs and interview preparation, as well as emotional support to coach and nurture Holly.  Holly is now delighted to have a new job which ticks her work wish list!  Here Holly tells us her full story…

My experience with Twining Enterprise has been vital to my mental state, for the last eleven months I've been lucky enough to use it.

I initially reached out when asked to do so through my counselling team; I was in therapy after a dramatic, life-altering change in personal circumstances, and although the issue wasn't work related initially, I needed career advice and guidance on asking for a formal change in my contract regarding my place of work.

Monica is the incredible human who was assigned to my case. From our first call, the warmth and understanding in her voice were such a comfort to me that I could keep going, and she gave me hope that it would “all be ok in the end". The contract issue was resolved through Monica's help - she read over my emails, gave advice on my wording, fact-checked my rights with experts for me, and ultimately pep-talked me into making my ask with a successful outcome.

When we thought our journey together was over, my life changed yet again and although in a safer location with this now-remote role, the relationship with my line manager had broken down, and for lack of a better word, I was 'bullied'; ridiculed, patronised, judged…and ultimately this made me leave that role with nothing else to go to. Not a wise decision, but when I broke it to Monica that I had already handed my notice in, although surprised, she was incredibly supportive and went straight into how I needed to approach looking for another job with a more supportive work culture. Her knowledge of the systems and sectors is fantastic, and sometimes I would text her questions - and she always replied - when I was looking for roles.

Doing that in October 2022 was incredibly difficult; the interest rates rose, the cost of living went up, I was suddenly jobless, and my mental health was still poor as I had neglected my counselling sessions. I felt utterly hopeless. On top of this, the living situation I had initially wanted had turned sour, and I was in a car accident with my car written off. Finding shreds of determination, I just kept going and going and going, applying for every job I could (I now didn't care what it was).

Monica sent me CV templates and checked through my updated CVs and cover letters, making suggestions and comments to help them get noticed. It worked! Finally, I was getting the interview but not the role. Constant rejection would take another hit on my confidence, and Monica would be right there every few weeks to pick it back up and work on the following topic. In this case, interview prep. What to say in response to questions and how to handle tricky ones were covered, and I went into each one feeling more confident. When I didn't get one, I started to realise that it was because there was likely to be someone more qualified than me, and that I wasn't the issue - this profoundly affected how I went into my last interview, and finally, I got a job!

It took four months of job searching to land one right for me, and I got to a very dark place I hadn't been since a year before. Monica got the brunt of this as my negativity filtered down the phone in those few months, but she was always kind, supportive and positive. I really can't thank her enough!

I start my new role next week; I'm in yet another new location, but it's safe, and I'm happy here. The position meets all my wish-list ticks which I didn't expect, and I'm back on track with my counselling support. Every single part of my life has changed since February 2022, and there was little consistency throughout it all, but the one thing that was consistent was Monica. Our calls gave me routine and a sense of stability that was desperately lacking in my life. As well as the expert knowledge she has, as I mentioned above, the role often escalated into counselling sessions and pep talks, which Monica dealt with expertly, whether it was silent tears, outright sobbing, negative self-sabotage talk or pure panic.

I put my recent success down to Twining Enterprise and Monica: this is an incredible service I couldn't afford to pay for, but I would have been lost without. I feel better knowing it's there should I ever lose my way again - thank you!