Lin was referred to The Hope Foundation by jobcentreplus after being made redundant from BhS. She felt like she had numerous barriers to finding a new job: no IT skills, no CV or cover letter and her age, 62, seemed to be posing a real problem.

She never expected to have as many options open to her as she discovered at Hope regarding her skills, qualifications, and career progression. She mentioned an interest in becoming a nursery nurse and, with Kim, she was able to plan her very realistic steps towards retraining completely. She has completed IT and Work Skills courses, improved her CV and wrote a cover letter, and is now working towards both ITQ with us and a Level 2 in Childcare with Middlesbrough College. She also has a work placement with a local nursery.

Lin now feels relaxed and has enjoyed the social aspect that she missed from working at BHS. She is astounded by her achievements so far and is growing in confidence. She now hopes to work as a nursery assistant in future and knows that determination will ensure this is achieved.

“I have a reason and a motivation to move on and to learn new things that I had

never imagined.”