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Success stories
How the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Training College helped Lee to help others …….
Lee is pictured here in his job at the Leonard Cheshire Randall’s Close Day Centre in Battersea. He says, “It’s the best job I’ve ever had and the one I’ve been happiest in! I get so much job satisfaction out of it. It’s all thanks to Brenda at the Jobcentre and the Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Training College that I’m here.
“I’d lost all my confidence and self-esteem after becoming ill, and I thought I would end up sitting at home all day wondering why it had happened to me! Brenda made me realise that it wasn’t all over, that my disability wouldn’t stop me, and that I could get back to work. She made me realise I wasn’t the only one”. Now, let’s start at the beginning…
Lee had always led an active life. After leaving school, he went into the building trade for about 12 years, mainly working self-employed or for friends. He then spent a further 12 years in the print trade, working nights and running his own press. He’d never been unemployed or signed on.
However, in his early forties Lee became unwell, with both emphysema and a rare vitamin deficiency. On Incapacity Benefit, he was in and out of hospital for a year or so, and then had another year of rehabilitation. He was getting quite depressed, and unable to return to his work in the print trade.
He went into the Jobcentre with his daughter one day, on the off chance, and ended up seeing Brenda, the Disability Employment Adviser. She told him all about the College and the opportunities for re-training. Although Lee had a good knowledge of computers, he only knew about the hardware and not the software. Keen to learn more, he made a successful application to the College for a place on the Information and Communication Technology course, (now called Office Administration).
Lee sailed through his NVQ Level 2 and decided he wanted to do more than just work in an office. He wanted to work with people. He was encouraged by his instructors to go for an NVQ Level 3. This involved actually teaching people himself, and he did this by setting up new trainees on their computers and by showing them a variety of tasks such as how to save work and set up e-mails etc. He achieved his qualification, NVQ Level 3 - Using Information Technology.
Lee really enjoyed his time at the College. He said, “I thought it was great! The accommodation and food was excellent, and I liked the leisure area and activities in the evenings. It all made it easier to live away from home and get on with the training. The staff were great too – so many caring people.”
After seven weeks on a work placement with another employer, Lee’s Employment Development Manager at the College, Peter, was notified of a temporary job at the Randall’s Day Centre for disabled and elderly people. The role was to look after the new IT room (sponsored by Microsoft for the first year), until someone permanent was appointed. It would involve helping the day centre visitors to use the computers and access the Internet and e-mails etc. When the job was advertised, Lee was encouraged to apply, and despite strong competition, and after three interviews, he was offered it.
Lee has been working at the Day Centre as the I T Facilitator now for over 2 years, and he loves it. His job is very varied and he gets involved in all sorts of projects with Wandsworth Council, which have included the design and printing of several leaflets, as well as doing general administration work for the centre.
Lee was invited back to the College to attend the annual “Prize Giving” event, and he was awarded the prize for “Best Trainee” on his course. He said, “I had a great day! It was nice seeing some of the other people I’d trained with. It’s such an achievement to do a training course and get back to work”.
