Michelle shares her secret to success
Michelle was out of work while she was bringing her two children up but when her youngest child started full time school she came to the GRoW Programme to find out how to start getting ready for work again.
Michelle said “I heard about GRoW through my son’s school as we had a great Family Support Service that used to run regular coffee mornings for parents and they referred me to the programme. They explained that it was free to join and, as the GRoW sessions were held in the school, would be really convenient for me to attend as I could come straight after dropping off my children at their classrooms. I knew I would want to return to work once my youngest son started school but I had no idea about what I wanted to do. I had been out of work for several years by then and was panicking about what it would be like to go back and I had lost a lot of confidence.
The GRoW Programme offered one session a week for four weeks followed by weekly meetings with my dedicated Adviser, Liz Sewell, and covered practical advice such as how to write a CV and interview techniques. I found it really useful and it very quickly helped to build my confidence. I was really pleased when Liz asked me if I would be interested in joining her team and work for GRoW, she recognised that I was really keen to start work and had got to know me well over the time I was on the programme. She needed someone to call the GRoW clients to remind them of their appointments and she paid me a salary and covered my expenses. What was really great was that she offered me the flexibility to carry out the role in the mornings to fit around taking my children to school and it was during Term Time only which meant I could be at home still with the children when they are on school holidays.
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