Ever since he left school, Cameron struggled to find long-term employment. The irregularity and unpredictability of employment negatively impacted Cameron’s mental health and resulted in depression and anxiety. He had no choice but to sign onto Universal Credit for support.
After six months of not being able to find work, Cameron was referred to the Restart Scheme.
Cameron told his employment advisor he was optimistic he’d find work but suffered with poor mental health. Soon after this first meeting, Cameron’s advisor secured agency work in warehousing, but he found the work physically demanding and overwhelming. The impact and stress of working in this role prompted Cameron to temporarily disengage from the Scheme and stop attending meetings.
When Cameron did decide to return to the Restart Scheme, his advisor found him work in a factory with a view to reducing the physical demands and focusing on quality control. But when he told his advisor how overwhelming the new job was, it became clear that his mental health needs were more significant than he’d initially shared. The advisor progressed a new way of resolving the challenge with a pre-employment intervention and support.
After discussing the new direction with Cameron, he was referred to a free accredited 15-day Employability and Wellbeing qualification and Multiply course, delivered by The Forward Trust’s skills team.
The Employability and Wellbeing course helped Cameron learn about different stress coping techniques, how to understand and manage his emotions, and other employability related skills such as CV writing and how to ask for feedback from employers.
He enjoyed the relaxed environment and steady pace of tasks, which really motivated him and rebuilt his confidence to start looking for a long-term job.
