Stephen had been working in the Printing Industry since he was 17 years old. At the time he enjoyed the work and his career developed sufficiently. So much so, throughout his years within the industry he took over 14 exams.

Nevertheless, after being made redundant three times he felt it was time for a change of direction. Stephen wanted to escape from mundane, repetitive jobs and try something new. Stephen had always thought about a career in mental health but without any experience or qualifications he wasn’t sure how to go about pursuing it. At first he thought he would have to go to university or at least take several exams.

After attending the Trent FM Jobs Fair, Stephen found out about an organisation called Partnerships in Care. They were able to offer Stephen a route into a career in mental health without it taking several years.

Stephen enrolled on a training course with Care Training East Midlands through Response to Redundancy funding. On this two week intensive programme Stephen completed a variety of vocational training and covered elements such as Care Planning and the Mental Health Act. This supported Stephen to develop his knowledge of the mental health industry. The programme also included a visit to a Partnerships in Care facility to really gain an insight into the day-to-day running of the organisation. Stephen says the course trainer, Viv, “was amazing”. He said,
“She doesn’t make it like a classroom and she brings her vast experience into the training.”

Stephen was offered a job as a health care worker with Partnerships in Care and has never looked back. So much so, that after five months he has been promoted to ward activity coordinator. Stephen will now be organising activities for the service users such as football and art and crafts. He will be responsible for organising rotas along with engaging the service users with activities. Stephen is very happy with his promotion. He has gone from a Band 1 employee up to Band 3.

Of the training programme and support he received from CTEM, Stephen says it “definitely helped me”. He also said Jess, his adviser at CTEM, “was absolutely brilliant”. Stephen is really happy in his job, and told us, “This is the best job I have ever done – everyday is a different challenge.”

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