Volunteering opened up a new world for Sue after her redundancy

Sue was employed as an Office Manager for eleven years, and thought she'd be there until she retired. So the news that she was being made redundant came as a real shock.

"I was gutted, it was the start of a horrendous time for me. Six months down the line I'd got nowhere: I'd done over a hundred job applications but only got five interviews and none of them worked out.

"Some weeks it seemed nothing went right. I'd just sit around, I wouldn't leave the house, wouldn't get dressed. It was very, very difficult for me."

A friend of Sue's knew someone who had used Framework's services in the past, and suggested she try volunteering.

Sue

"I didn't really know anything about it but I wanted to give it a go, so I filled in the application form and sent it off. I started in July this year and can only say that it's been a godsend - it's got my head back into gear."

Sue has been able to put her office skills to excellent use in her volunteering role.

"I do two days a week with Omied [Framework's Volunteer Coordinator]. I send out application packs, and arrange for the prospective volunteers to come in and chat to Omied. On one occasion he had to go home ill so I ended up doing the interviews myself! I'm confident enough to do that by myself now.

"Also, I've been doing admin work for the Workshop: I enter referrals into the database, answer the telephone and do a bit of filing. I'm also going to do some shadowing in the Academy, so that I'll be able to help out in the classroom too.

"The work that I do is really appreciated and I get a lot of good feedback. It's been great for my morale."

Sue has been able to confront the massive changes in her life brought about by her redundancy and start thinking about the future again. She's considering a new career in support work.

"I've done one course in Domestic Violence, and I'm booked onto two more courses dealing with Mental Health and Alcohol Abuse. It'll all help me when I start applying for vacancies in support work. I probably would never have considered it if I hadn't come here to volunteer.

"Now I know that I'm capable of going in a different direction, it's amazing - I'm excited about what I might be able to achieve in the future."