Laura from Ashington was considering returning to employment after a few years of being a carer for a family member. But she lacked confidence and felt her skills were not up-to-date enough to be able to consider returning to an administrative role.
She joined the Bridge programme wanting to build her confidence and self-esteem, and get support to move on with her life and get closer to employment.
Sarah from South East Northumberland had been out of work for 9 months and was struggling with anxiety about returning to work. With our help, she's tackled online interviews, learnt techniques to manage anxiety through coaching and is delighted to have now found a job.
Kenny had started to believe finding a job at the age of 63 would be impossible. But after coming to our Amble Employment Hub tells us how we helped him find employment.
Maureen at 53 had been made redundant and was keen to change career, but lacked IT skills and was struggling to apply for jobs using only her mobile phone. In her words she felt "old and uncertain" when she was referred to Bridge. But in just a few months has retrained, gained new skills and has been offered a job thanks to our help!
It’s hard to believe Mandy initially struggled with confidence and felt socially isolated when she first joined. She wanted to gain new skills and get some support to re-enter work having been unemployed for a while, and is now a highly valued volunteer at a local Food Bank.
Julie Mills began Supported Volunteering after being suggested by her Bridge Worker as she was struggling with her confidence, and hadn’t worked since having her family several years earlier. She went on from volunteering to taking an apprentice role which resulted in winning National Apprentice of the year!
Jack age 23 had been out of work for 2 years when he signed up to Bridge, feeling low and negative with little hope for a positive outcome. He was suffering from anxiety and depression and having real trouble motivating himself to get up in the mornings thinking “what was the point”.
Linda from Seaton Deleval had always worked since leaving school in 1986, but found herself unemployed last year just after lockdown started in April.
Clive from Amble was frustrated he hadn’t been able to find work despite making many applications and feared that his age was preventing employers from offering him a job.
With our support, he was able to get the part-time job he'd been so keen to find.
Stephen from Amble has turned his life around with help from Bridge Northumberland. He has gone from being unemployed, facing financial and housing issues, and lacking confidence, to starting a new job this summer and in a much better place mentally.
Meet Lindsey, our latest success story who has made great progress towards her goal of being a self-employed health educator and speaker, despite facing many barriers.
Having been in work for 14 years Michelle had to step back from work through illness. She was at a low point in her life when she was introduced to the Bridge team having been out of work for a year.
Thanks to encouragement and support she's started a new job over the summer.
Roy was referred to the Bridge Project by one of our partner organisations Northumberland CVA following a referral by the Jobcentre for them to support him with CV writing. At the time he had been unemployed for almost 2 years.
Anne was made redundant in January 2020, and being in her 50s felt it was going to be difficult to find a job. Things took a turn for the worse when lockdown happened in March, and job vacancies became increasingly hard to find.
Darin was referred to the Bridge Project by one of our Partners, Northumberland CVA having been unemployed for two years. A qualified electrician (having gained an HNC) Darin worked for around 8 years before breaking away to start a partnership of his own.
Diane self referred to the Bridge Project in February 2019 after hearing about us from one of her friends who is an existing beneficiary.
Before joining Bridge Justine was unemployed and suffered from depression and anxiety and didn’t want to leave the house.
Before joining Bridge Carolyn was a housewife and carer for her son. She’d previously had jobs in schools when her children were younger.
Lindsay was referred into the Bridge Project via her work coach at the jobcentre who had recently attended a meeting with Bridge staff and felt the project would be ideal for Lindsay.
When we first met Daniel he was very anxious, in particular around leaving his home environment. He felt he would like to contribute and be more productive in life and indicated to his Bridge Worker, Garry, that he feels he wanted to do something with his life.
Tasha was referred to the Bridge Project by Escape Family Support in May 2017 who told us Tasha had confidence issues due to being bullied and hoped Bridge could help her get started with things and to improve her life.
Alex was referred to the Bridge Project in December 2017 via his local Jobcentre as they recognised he needed a bit more specialist wraparound support.
Kevin was referred into the Bridge Project in June 2017 by BRIC (Blyth Resource and Initiative Centre). Kevin who is dyslexic and suffering from depression when we first met him.
Tony, the Bridge Worker assigned to work with Elaine, when they first met he found her to be extremely anxious and withdrawn.
Having served in the Scots Guards with deployment in Northern Ireland and Kenya – his army career was cut short due to health issues.
You could become one of our success stories too! Get in touch for a friendly chat to find out more about our programme.
