Jaime was made redundant after 18 years as a worker at a knitwear factory. Although she’d grown tired of doing the same thing every day, she knew nothing else. Over the years Jaime had become extremely socially isolated, and after losing her job she was reluctant to leave her house. Her mental health was already fragile, but the shock of losing her job made the situation worse.
Needing some support, Jaime connected with a Pegasus Health Navigator, Sam, who helped her to create goals and plans to address her health needs. Sam had heard about Kingdom Resources through her colleagues who she says had “glowing things to say about it”, and she thought that the Taking the First Step course would be a perfect opportunity for Jaime.
Jaime’s nerves were ‘all over the place’ on the first day of the course. But as the course progressed, her confidence began to grow, as she focused on developing ‘SMART’ goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound goals). She decided she wanted to get out, meet new people, and make new friends. With strong interests in knitting, cross stitch, and scrapbooking, her first goal was to find out if there were any craft groups around, and to research them within a week. Despite feeling scared to talk to people, she went and joined a knitting group at the library and felt really good for achieving her goal.
By the end of the course Jaime was able to get up in front of the other attendees and give a small speech at the course Graduation Ceremony. She says, “I got up and I wasn’t as nervous. I could look at everyone. I’d listened to what they had gone through and we’d all got to know each other, and we’d created a friendship. “
Sam noticed the change in Jaime, explaining, “I saw a massive change and when I would meet with her, she would tell me not only what she was doing on the course, but also what she was doing outside of the course… even dressing nicely and practicing the self-care stuff. She was literally buzzing at the office!”
With new-found faith in herself Jaime is now looking towards her future with goals to find a new job or volunteer work. She has plans to connect with a work consultant. “It’s going to be fun and scary at the same time. But I’ve got all these tools in place now. I definitely got my confidence back. I’m worth it!”
By Janine Millington