Tina's Story
From Sadness to Supervisor.
Tina Brolley was a lone parent who came to an open day held by A4e's office in Limavady, Northern Ireland. She opened up to staff about how deeply her life had been affected by the tragic, sudden death of her young brother. She had been struggling to overcome her grief and recover from the impact of losing him. She was unsure of what the future held and explained that the stigma attached to the family as a result of his death had been a big factor in how she felt about herself.
"She lacked self-esteem and confidence. She was withdrawn and quiet when she came to us."
Her tutor Marilyn worked with her on a one-to-one basis and encouraged her each day whilst she attended the programme. She was also supported by specialist agencies, and day-by-day her confidence grew, and she began to engage more with A4e.
Marilyn says:
"Tina became interested in experiencing work again after four weeks on our programme. A supportive employer was the key in this first step that Tina was to take to re-enter the labour market."
Tina started attending work placement four days per week. She continued to work with A4e one day per week as they tried to further increase her confidence and help her to improve her work skills.
The employer Tina was placed with was so impressed by how she had grown in confidence and her attitude to work that they offered her a permanent supervisory role within their organisation.
Tina took up employment on 20th August 2007 and she soon identified her next goal as being to access a training course in counselling, to enable her to explore the option of volunteering as a counsellor with specialist agencies such as the Samaritans."