Darryl Franks: My Experience of the Ready for Work Programme

I was staying at a friends house, as what you call a sofa surfer, and at that point I became homeless and didn't have any help whatsoever.  I then found an organisation called HAP who in turn got in contact with BITC and they both helped me to develop myself, gave me self confidence and sorted out my housing.

The Ready for Work Programme helped give me the confidence to go out and approach employers and put me back in a 'work' environment again.  It had been such a long time since I'd been in paid work or any kind of structured environment.  It gave me a real confidence boost which is the biggest thing I can say it's done for me.

Having a Job Coach is having someone that I can speak to every two weeks to a month who's a real professional in his own field.  It's a real lucky thing for me to be able to communicate with someone like that who knows everything about work/life itself.

Before I joined the programme I didn't have any confidence.  I was a willing applicant but I had no idea what the programme was about.  In doing the two weeks at Freshfields that really gave me a real confidence boost to be able to talk to people who are Managers, Managing Directors, Head of HR etc, and it really showed that I was a human being and that they were human beings.

The confidence building it gave me; the confidence training, putting me into a working environment and making me feel part of a team.  It all really helped me become a better person and really gave me that spring in my step.

If you would like to help people like Darryl by getting involved in the Ready for Work Programme in London, please contact Lauren O'Leary on 
020 7566 8787