Jason's Story

When 19-year-old Jason Connolly decided to change the direction of his life, wanting qualifications and a future, YMCA Training, Romford, provided him with all the help and support he needed.

Jason left school with only a few GCSE’s, mostly at grade F, and had little work experience having only worked on his father’s market stall.

In his first few months after joining YMCA Training, Romford, in December 2007, Jason was very shy and found it hard to participate in activities with others in the group. He found all literacy exercises difficult and could not even construct sentences on paper. Two YMCA Training training advisers worked patiently with Jason on a one-to-one basis and in group activities to build on his confidence, numeracy and literacy, and, as each of these improved, so did his self esteem.

Jason was soon sailing through the literacy and numeracy work that the training advisers gave him and has recently taken his National Test at Level 2 in both subjects. He can't wait for the results and is feeling quite positive.

Jason is the first to admit that he is a "worrier", and when the time came for him to begin his placement, there were many aspects he was concerned about, such as the people he would be working with, the work he would be doing and about the journey there. To address his worries, staff at YMCA Training arranged for him to do a one-day work taster with Superdrugs - a small store with friendly, accommodating staff - and took him to the store and stayed with him until he felt able to complete the day alone.

After a few more work taster days Jason was ready for bigger and better things. He began his work experience at the Tranquility Aquatic Centre and soon became a key part of the team there. The manager has fed back excellent reports.

Since then, Jason has been accepted onto an IT course at Havering College. He recently visited staff at YMCA Training, Romford, to say how much he was enjoying his course, and college life.

Sam’s Story

19 year old Sam is a Support Worker at the Adepta residential care home in Cambridgeshire, working with adults and young adults with severe mental and physical disabilities.

Sam loves her work: on a scale of one to ten, she rates it ten out of ten and describes it as her “perfect job”! She says part of what makes it so great is that every day is different and there is never a dull moment.

Every day Sam cycles for 45 minutes to arrive at the care home for 7.30am. She then gets the residents showered and dressed and helps them with their breakfast. They choose a morning activity such as going bowling or for a picnic. After lunch there’s a second activity during the afternoon, before Sam cycles 45 minutes home again.

Sam had always wanted to work in the field of nursing, but until joining our e2e course, never dreamed that she would be able to achieve her goal.

When Training Advisers at the Cambridge YMCA Training centre first met Sam, she had mainly been working in retail and couldn’t see how she would ever be able to make the move into the nursing field. However, with the help and support of YMCA Training, her outlook changed.

Through the e2e course, Sam received help with her CV and interview techniques, improved her telephone skills, and achieved Literacy Level 2 and Numeracy Level 1 in addition to a first aid qualification. She also got some work experience at an infant school.

During this time, Sam’s confidence also grew. She has gone from being unable to talk and participate in a group to developing leadership skills and most recently, giving a talk to some of our current e2e participants.

Sam commented “When I started e2e I didn’t think I’d be able to get the type of job I really wanted, but with the confidence boost I received, I’ve now got my perfect job!”

Sam’s Training Adviser Rachel said “Sam is definitely a ‘people person’, so the role as Support Worker is ideal for her. We worked with her to develop a positive mental attitude which has allowed her to get the job she wanted. It has been wonderful to be a part of her journey.”

Building Blocks

Through joining the e2e programme at our Oldham centre, Jake discovered the career path he wanted to follow, gained a whole range of qualifications and plans to progress to further training.

Jake left school with few qualifications and had been unemployed since leaving secondary education. When Training Adviser Kubira Binyamin first met Jake, he needed support with his confidence and his attendance and time-keeping.

During his time at YMCA Training Jake decided he wanted to gain experience in construction and took up a placement at Groundwork, a national environmental regeneration charity that have a trust in Oldham. The team at Groundwork started with teaching Jake basic bricklaying to give him a taster of the work. Jake's timekeeping and attendance improved dramatically when he started the placement, and he went on to gain some Health and Safety training. The tutors were pleased with the progress he had made and they started to take him out on site to help with labouring jobs.

Jake achieved his NVQ Level 1 in Construction and Civil Engineering, his Health and Safety Certificate, Adult Literacy levels 1 & 2 and Adult Numeracy level 1. Jake is now employed full time by a construction company and has applied to go on to do an Apprenticeship.

Photograph: Jake lays the foundations for his new career

Getting Ahead with e2e

Kieran's dream job is to be a football coach, and now thanks to YMCA Training he is well on the way to scoring it!

Kieran began the e2e course at our Croydon centre, stating his long-term career aspiration was to become a football coach. Through the e2e programme he gained his Key Skills, Application of Number and a CLAIT qualification. He was presented with his certificates for the course by the Mayor of Croydon, at the centre's awards ceremony.

Having completed the e2e programme in August, Kieran moved on to our Skills Academy in Wimbledon, where he assists with the Sports Leadership course for under 16s. He is also doing an Apprenticeship in Sports Leadership and F.A.Coaching, so is right on track to follow his ideal career path.

Photograph: Kieran receives his certificates from the Mayor of Croydon

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