“Before Bridge I had no confidence and felt nobody would employ me at my age…”
You could become one of our success stories too! Get in touch for a friendly chat to find out more about our programme.
“Before Bridge I had no confidence and felt nobody would employ me at my age…”
Carolyn was referred into the Bridge Project in July 2017 from Escape Family Support who were supporting Carolyn with a family member.
Before joining Bridge Carolyn was a housewife and carer for her son. She’d previously had jobs in schools when her children were younger and having supported her son was given information about the Bridge Project and signed up straight away!
At the age of 52 she felt worthless and wanted to do something but felt that nobody would want to take her on because of her age. She came to Bridge with no CV, any up to date qualifications or IT skills and hadn’t worked for many years. Her marriage broke down and she concentrated on her son’s needs and put her life on hold.
Whilst on the project Carolyn attended a Digital Media Workshop with Baeur Media, created a Pod Cast and got to visit and meet some of the presenters at Metro Radio in Newcastle. She’s had benefit support from our partner Citizens Advice Northumberland, promoted the project at job fairs, been interviewed about her experience on both BBC Newcastle and Koast radio and become a peer mentor.
She is volunteering at Escape Family Support and does some engagement work with them and would love to explore this avenue further.
“Being on the Bridge Project I feel that I belong to something…”
Carolyn said The Bridge Project made her feel like she belonged to something, made her feel her needs were important and gave her a sense of purpose while boosting her confidence. She really enjoyed the engagement activities and feels like she’s ready for work now. Through the peer mentoring programme she’s been involved with at Escape she’s also gained a qualification (NVQ) something she didn’t think she would ever do.
“I tried the creative writing but it wasn’t my thing, but it’s great to try something new – you don’t know if you like it until you try it”.
Carolyn’s Bridge Worker, Caroline, understood situation, with her knowledge of family dynamics and experience of behaviour patterns she was empathetic and able to help and support her to realise the importance of her own needs, gave her the confidence to move in a new direction in her life, taking small steps and making gradual changes.
“One of the greatest things I have learnt from Caroline is never to be afraid to ask if i don’t know something – not being scared has really boosted my confidence and how I deal daily with people and situations.”
“Bridge can’t rescue you, they can’t solve all your problems but they put the tools and skills in place to help you get yourself better”.
Carolyn now feels she has independence – before joining the Bridge Project she would be very anxious using public transport on her own and now travels across the county to various events and workshops and loves to travel. She is a great ambassador for the project and loves to talk about how it has helped her and hopes she can inspire other people to seek support from Bridge too. She would love to volunteer with Bridge in an engagement capacity something we are looking into…
“Thanks to Caroline’s support I can now handle difficult situations…”
Carolyn would recommend The Bridge Project to others as not only has it helped to boost her confidence but has shown her there are opportunities out there for her and she’s not afraid to try something new.
“I feel like the jigsaw is coming together now! “
The next steps for Carolyn are to get support with CV writing and to start applying for jobs.
“Bridge can’t rescue you, they can’t solve all your problems but they put the tools and skills in place to help you get yourself better.”
What difference is Bridge making?
What’s next for Carolyn?
If you think we can help to make changes in your life why not contact us?
You could become one of our success stories too! Get in touch for a friendly chat to find out more about our programme.
