Sinead has had to deal with significant challenges and barriers from an early age because a close family member had severe support needs, dealing with multiple issues.
When Sinead was younger she and her brother ended up in Local Authority Care. She attended secondary school regularly despite the challenging environment in care and achieved 9 GCSEs and subsequently passed 3 A-levels at college.
She then returned to care for her family member on a part-time basis. Due to this Sinead has struggled to prioritise her own learning and development. She had little confidence in herself and didn't know what she wanted for her future.
With support from her Transitional Support Worker, Sinead attended Adult Community Learning courses to help her with her personal development and to gain more confidence in herself. In fact, she has recently won an Adult Community Learning Award for her achievements on the courses.
When the team at Works Better started to support Sinead to look for a job she was keen to work in retail or customer service whilst she looked at becoming a student.
She needed a part-time job. When our Job Connector started to work with Subway in Huddersfield, to help our candidates to work and gain experience. Sinead felt it was the perfect opportunity for her.
Sinead was successful in acquiring a full-time position at Subway thanks to the work trial process set up by a job connector she had the opportunity to showcase her customer service skills and gain some experience before being offered the job.
Sinead is now in the process of looking for accommodation for herself so she can be more independent, focus on her own goals and aspirations eventually when she’s ready she will be applying for University.
The support provided by Works Better and the Skills Work projects has had a positive and long-lasting impact on shaping Sinead’s future prospects.