J joined the Barking and Dagenham IPS Workwise service as he was struggling with his depression and anxiety. His recovery and journey into employment has been incredibly rewarding for staff to see and demonstrates the hard work and dedication from our Employment Specialists when supporting their clients.
J’s Story
For the last 15 years, J has been struggling with depression and anxiety, which eventually led to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. During this time, J was struggling to maintain work and had lost all hope after he was let go from his job, “I lost hope and accepted this would be my life.”
Due to his diagnosis, J was in and out of hospital which was a mentally and physically draining experience for him. He was eventually referred to the Working Well Trust, “this is where my life and view of the mental health system changed.”
After Meeting his Employment Specialist (ES) they worked together to find vacancies that met his interests and employment goals and edited his CV and cover letters to highlight J’s skills, experience and expertise. With the help of his ES, he was able to find a role as a collect and delivery driver and even enrolled onto a college course to study Vehicle Maintenance and repairs.
J and his ES continued to work together, “I could not have gotten this far without him.” Employer engagement is a key part of the support our IPS teams offer; his ES accompanied J to garages across Barking to find opportunities for work. J’s hope and motivation increased significantly, “this was all due to my ES’s encouragement and support to put myself out there.” J’s ES also shared an opportunity to apply for an apprentice technician role with the council and helped J throughout the application process, “I have applied for roles like this many times and have not gotten past the application stage. But my ES has been there with me through the whole process… and preparation for my start day as a Technician Apprentice.”
“I feel very fortunate and thankful to have been able to work with the team at Working Well Trust. They have not just motivated me but have changed my view and expectations of what mental health services can offer to their patients. I can whole heartedly say if you really want out of the hold you are in, Working Well will offer you their hand no matter what is surrounding you.”
If you feel like you’re in a similar situation to J and would like employment support as part of your mental health recovery, click here to make a referral to the Barking & Dagenham IPS Workwise team. If you would like more information, head to the Barking & Dagenham info page or contact us at [email protected]
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