Case study 2
Building confidence – Sharon London
2006 was not a good year for Sharon London, a lone parent from Chester. Sharon had been out of work for 22 years, due to looking after her disabled daughter and two younger daughters.
Then things went from bad to worse when her house caught fire, damaging all of her possessions and leaving Sharon feeling very low.
“I was quite depressed at that time,” she said. “Then I got a letter from Jobcentre Plus about doing a course, which would help me to sort out my CV and give me some motivation. I thought I should get out of the house, so I agreed to do it.”
Sharon started the course in March 2007. The first four weeks covered things like writing covering letters and putting together CVs. This was followed by three weeks’ job experience ‘in-house’ with a local company.
In Sharon’s case, the company turned out to be Cheshire Training Associates – the people who were running the course.
“The boss of Cheshire Training Associated told me ‘I’ve got plans for you,’ and he arranged for me to do the three weeks work placement in one of their offices,” said Sharon. “Once that finished, they told me that they wanted to offer me a full-time job as a Motivational Trainer – and now I’m responsible for running the same course that gave me my break.
“In the space of two months, I went from having nothing to having a completely new life. It’s made such a difference to me and the kids. As well as giving us a lot more money, it also means that I’m out of the house every day now, and most importantly of all, it helped me to get out of a rut. I now have self-confidence and I’m so proud of my achievements.”