Case Studies

Unemployed to Volunteer to Staff Member

This time 10 years ago my whole world fell apart…………I lost my son to the devastating effects of drug abuse. I didn’t know how I could carry on……. This is where my journey begins.

After losing my son it took all my strength and determination to get back on track and find something to keep me occupied. I eventually found some part time work at B & Q. Things were looking up for me and my self esteem and confidence grew by the day. Five years went by and I felt like I had a sense of security as I had made some amazing friends through work.

This was soon shattered when my mother became ill and needed round-the-clock care. All my thoughts from losing my son came flooding back. I gone up doing the job I enjoyed to enable me to give my mum the care she needed. Two years passed when suddenly my world turned upside down: my mum passed away. All my confidence disappeared in a flash and I couldn’t get motivated to do anything except think about the past. This carried on for over a year.

Client to Volunteer - My Journey

Probably the worst day of my life! I had just broken up with my girlfriend and was feeling as though I had lost everything. We had a little girl together and she was my life. I asked myself…. ‘What went wrong?’…. ‘Why has it come to this?’ .... So many questions were running through my head, my heart aching. One minute I had everything I’d always dreamed of, the next minute it had all been taken away from me. My bags were soon packed and that’s when I realised ‘this is for good.’ I left our family home with just a couple of bags of my possessions, not knowing where I was going as I couldn’t think straight. All I ever wanted was a normal family life with people I loved…… I was heartbroken.