John’s
Story

John loves nothing more than the outside, going on bike rides, long walks, and spending time with his family. Other than family John didn’t socialise with many people and confidence and communication was something that he struggled with.

Before stating with YES john was at college doing catering which he passed in July 2022. However, John had been at college for 4 years where he had also completed his maths and English. John said that this was a good experience and that he loved every part of it however it was time to start looking for some other things away from the college. This is when john met Tony in the September of 2022. After working with Tony for a short amount of time Tony could see that John was struggling with is communication and found out about how he didn’t socialise so suggested that he took part in the Team Programme which he did.

While on the Team Programme John overcame many things and had some great experiences. While on the Team Programme John also got to go on the residential which for someone who loved the outdoors as much as he did was an amazing experience with his highlights being the zip line and ladder run. He was also able to make some friend and began to socialise with them both on the programme as well as outside the programme. This also helped him to hugely improve on his confidence as well as how he was communicating. Before coming into the service John had no work experience which was something that he was also able to get from his time on Team Programme. He had a placement at The Unity Centre where he was supervising, supporting in giving information as well as working with people and gaining valuable people skills.

After completing the team programme John began to do some more work with Tony and they were able to find some course that were perfectly suited for what John wanted to do. Since then, John has now completed 4 of these courses and has really found his green thumb. Some of the courses includes a sow and grow as well as a waling through time course which he is still doing now.

After working with Tony and completing the Team Programme John has said that he feels he has conquered fears, developed his practical skills, improved his communication and is much more motivated but most importantly john has said that he has hugely improved his confidence.

John is still completing his courses and is working with Tony to look into finding some apprenticeships in his chosen sector. As he feels that this would be a very good next step for him.