Darren

When Darren first came to Ideal for All he had been out of work for two years. He suffers with mental health issues for which he is on medication and has attended rehab for a gambling addiction. He lacked confidence and had previously not received any support to move forward from this.

Darren initially attended our ‘Coffee and Chat’ sessions to build his confidence, meet other people and have an outlet where he could express his thoughts. After attending the coffee mornings, Darren started to access some of our other services such as ‘Healthy Kickstart’ sessions to learn about healthy eating and cooking on a budget. He also took part in our confidence building course and arts therapy sessions as a means to find coping strategies that work for him.

Through accessing our services he is now able to prepare a simple meal for himself. He has become focused on wanting to improve his life and circumstances.

As Darren’s confidence has grown, he has started to look at Support Worker roles with a view to returning to work in a volunteer capacity. He is receiving support with job search and applications from the Employment team as part of our Job Club. Although Darren still has bad days, he is more aware of the services available and tries to attend as much as possible.

“I am feeling more confident and have a more positive outlook since working with Ideal for All. I enjoy coming down and talking to the team. They support me with my job search.”