Kath, 54 from Stockton first came to Five Lamps in February 2011 through ‘Communities Fund’ for advice and guidance to find out what her options were as she wanted to get back into work.
Five Lamps run Communities Fund on behalf of Stockton Council to support people who are unemployed.
Kath did not know which direction her life was going in or what she wanted to do and felt totally lost and depressed after losing her son to cancer in September 2010. On discovering her son was terminally ill, Kath made the decision to leave her job at Asda to help nurse him during his 6 month illness until he passed away. Her son’s death plunged Kath into despair, yet amazingly within 5 months Kath was ready to take control of her life and face the world again.
Kath was already aware of some of the services and support Five Lamps provide in the community to local people and felt able to approach Five Lamps for the support she really needed. Kath was seen by Darren Stephens, Five Lamps’ Intensive Support Worker at Dovecot Street in Stockton, who identified some of the potential barriers that could prevent her from securing employment and were limiting her future progression.
Kath left school at 15 years old with no qualifications and stayed in the ‘revolving door’ churn of low-paid and unskilled work. Darren suggested Kath could attend Five Lamps’ weekly Work Club sessions to develop her interview techniques and produce an effective CV.
Kath also started on Five Lamps’ Adult Literacy Level 2, Adult Numeracy Level 1 and ICT Level 1 classes and began to study really hard to bring her skills up to date. Kath also completed her First Aid and Health & Safety training. Darren also identified that to help her employability, it would benefit Kath greatly to volunteer and develop new skills.
Kath said
“Speaking with Darren at Dovecot Street has helped me to challenge myself and believe that I can achieve my goal”.
Having accessed a variety of support sessions, Kath decided that she did not want to work in the kind of jobs she had worked in all her life anymore and would ideally like to work with children and young people who have learning and physical disabilities. She offered her time to volunteer as a Support Worker at Five Lamps’ Youthy in Thornaby.
Kath absolutely loves the work involved at The Youthy supporting young people with many leisure activities and when you ask her about how things are going, her face lights up when she talks about what she has done and gets excited at how she wants to support young people further. Kath knows that she is on the right path now and looks forward to securing employment in this area.
On reflection, Kath said
“Five Lamps has given me a new focus in life and helped me to find out what I really want to do. It’s got me from sitting in the house watching daytime TV into an environment where I’m meeting new people and challenging myself”