Good News Stories
The following are a selection of good news stories illustrating some of the achievements of Pentreath’s participants. (Names have been changed in all our good news stories)
Working with Mindful Employers
jemma April 2007
Over a period of a further two or three years - a process elongated because, intermittently, I was required to return to London to take full time care of my children - Pentreath helped me in the process of preparing to return to work and found two short term voluntary work placements for me, the second being at Fitzgerald Lighting Ltd, based in Bodmin. Initially I worked for only about twenty hours a week but I was quickly able to increase this to full time.
"As a result of my second work placement, I was offered full time employment assisting in the IT department at Fitzgerald's, initially for a trial period but later on a permanent basis. Whilst still early days and working in areas that are essentially new to me, I have been encouraged and allowed to develop and asked to do a variety of tasks. Among other things, I have already been able to achieve considerable monthly savings by negotiating several new admin and service contracts for the company.
"Knowing how difficult it is to rebuild having been hit by "life's forty tonne truck", I can but express my grateful thanks to those individuals within Pentreath and Fitzgerald's for lending me a helping hand in the rebuilding process - rather than "walking by on the other side" - and I would want to encourage as many other organisations / individuals as possible to invest in and value their employees / people in appropriately similar ways."
Personal Development
janis April 2007
Lisa is nearing completion of her personal development course: She has engaged weill, particularly in confidence building and raising self-esteem. She has also updated her CV with a good personal profile and key skills.
"I feel brighter about my future prospects, as I am better able to engage with people as my confidence has grown and I have become more 'with it'. I have better motivation and communication. I hope that a suitable position will present itself and I feel better equiped to apply and hopefully obntain it."
Steady Progress
jonathan March 2007
Steve started engaging on the Roads to Health project about 9 months ago. At our initial meeting he was very withdrawn and lacked the confidence to answer questions and get his point across. He hardly ever went out of the house and was unable to lead a normal family life with his girlfriend and 2 children.
Steve and I started by going for short walks initially, this then increased to fishing and going to the gym to aid with his social interaction skills. Steve also attended the Roads To Recovery course and engaged in any group activities that we organised. Over time Steve found that he was becoming much more confident and felt more able to engage in things. He began going out with his family and made some new friends and began to look towards taking on training and looking for employment
Steve recently applied for full time employment and we are waiting to see how this progresses.
Artistic Distractions
jonathan March 2007
Tracey began working with the Roads to health project about 9 months ago. Initially she appeared very withdrawn, unconfident and sceptical of how she could benefit from involvement with us. She had issues with both alcohol and self - harm.
Tracey and I began going on a weekly basis for walks in the countryside, as this was one of her main interests, she was able to gain a lot of enjoyment from this and gradually she became much more talkative and confident. We purchased some paints so that she could take photos and then paint them when she got home, this helped take her mind off herself and more importantly meant that her mind was diverted from drinking or self - harming.
The transformation in Tracey has been quite remarkable; she has attended a Roads To Recovery course, mixes socially by going to the cinema with her friend and has a much more confident air about her. Tracey has also recently begun a voluntary placement 1 day a week and is considering increasing this to 2 days a week as she enjoys it so much.
More good news stories ...
