Linda has had her confidence restored and has successfully been supported back into work!
Linda first joined the Restart Scheme in Bournemouth back in August 2021. When she first joined, she was lacking confidence in herself, felt very anxious, isolated, and had lost hope that she would be able to find work again. She had been out of work for over two years and felt lost after losing her long-term job in a local retail department store due to closure. Then, the pandemic hit, and as she was approaching retirement age, she was concerned that she would be unlikely to find sustainable work again.
She met with her Restart Scheme Employment Advisor, Natasha, who soon realised that Linda would benefit from receiving personalised support from the Pluss Health and Wellbeing team. She was referred to Ellen, the resident Health & Wellbeing Coach in Bournemouth. Ellen supported Linda with 1:1 coaching sessions as she gradually began to rebuild her confidence. Eventually, Linda felt confident enough to attend several group wellbeing workshops and began to flourish week by week.
With the support from her new Employment Advisor, Josh, who worked closely with her to update her CV, identify suitable roles and provide strong interview techniques, she felt that she was ready to start applying for work.
On 15th March, Linda came into the Restart Scheme office with good news- she’d been offered a retail role at a local card store! Prior to the Restart Scheme, she had struggled to feel motivated to find work and felt extremely anxious at the thought of attending interviews. Now, she couldn’t be happier and feels proud of what she has achieved with the right support.
Here’s the feedback Linda gave to summarise her time on the Restart Scheme:
“I would just like to thank you all for your help and support that you gave me at all times. You have helped me so much, not only giving me more confidence in myself, but in my life as well.
“You have been so easy to talk to about how I was feeling and you made me realise that I wasn’t coping as much as I thought I was at the time. But now, I am feeling so much better about things. It’s been a pleasure working with you and I’ve learnt so much during our time.
“When I go to my Jobcentre meetings, I tell my Work Coach about my sessions on the Restart Scheme and she has commented on how much more confident, relaxed and happier I am now, compared to when she first met me; she was very impressed!”
#NoOneLeftBehind
The Restart Scheme is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Area: Dorset
