Ashley finds a new sense of hope

Finding a job can be difficult at the best of times, but it’s even harder when you’re going through tragedy in your personal life. That was the sad reality for Ashley, who had suffered two family bereavements and could not see a way through his grief. He was feeling hopeless when he signed up to Triage for help to find work.

“Before joining the programme at Triage, I was on Jobseeker’s Allowance looking for work,” explains Ashley. “I would get up, do my housework, maybe do a workout, watch some TV, do job searches, things like that. That was my basic routine. Not much of a routine at all. 

“I think it was my mindset, I was in such a dark place at that time. I’d just lost my mam and my sister, so I was grieving, I wasn’t in a very good place at all.”

Despite the difficulties in his personal life, Ashley was determined to find a job, knowing that it would help him feel like he was making a valuable contribution to society. “The reason I want to work is because it gives me purpose… I feel like a proper member of society, I’m putting into society, I’m not just taking out, just on benefits, I’m actually working for my money,” he says. 

With sympathetic help and support from his Triage adviser Lynee Moyle, Ashley began taking the steps he needed towards finding work. Matthew Flanagan, from Triage’s Employer Services Team, found a vacancy at Poundland for a store assistant. Ashley secured the job – and couldn’t be more pleased with how his fortunes have turned around.

After just three months, he was thrilled to be named Employee of the Month, and then after four months he was given his own department. Just under a year since he started at Poundland, he was promoted to supervisor and is now undergoing training for his new role. 

“My adviser at Triage, and the support I’ve had, has been amazing,” says Ashley. “Every time I was being silly or putting myself down and telling myself I couldn’t do it, you were always there to tell me otherwise… If I wanted to talk to you, if I had questions, if I was unsure about something, you were always there with an answer or an explanation. Just everything I needed.”

Ashley is now thoroughly enjoying his supervisor training, and his ambition is to become a store manager.

“I’ve found something that I love, I don’t really see it as work, it’s not hard, I want to be there,” enthuses Ashley. “It’s changed my life, going back to work… I’m a completely different person. I’m optimistic, I have hope. I think life is positive now. I never thought I’d be able to get out of that deep, dark hole that I was in a year ago.”