Iain moved from Scotland to Birmingham with a view to move in with his girlfriend and her family. But, when after just 2 weeks he was told to find somewhere else to live, he had nowhere to turn. Whilst spending 2 years living in hostels, Iain hated his situation but was determined not to let life drag him down:
“In the first hostel I ended up drinking more than I normally would as I felt depressed. But, I decided that I had to take the positives from the negative situation.”
His chance to do just that came when Iain noticed a poster for BAOH’s Ready for Work programme on the hostel notice board. He spoke to his support worker who encouraged him to take up the opportunity and, after 2 days of training to improve skills and confidence, Iain was offered a placement with Carillion to carry out construction work.
Iain was unsure about the 2 week placement having grown to expect things to go wrong. But the support of his placement buddy, Derek from Carillion, quickly put him at ease. Derek introduced him to everything and everyone and made sure that Iain knew where to turn if he had any concerns about work on the site:
“Derek was great. He didn’t just throw me in at the deep end … Without his support I wouldn’t have felt anywhere near as comfortable whilst on placement.”
With Derek’s help, Iain quickly shone on the site. He was treated like any other worker, gaining the respect of his colleagues. After just one week, Sinead Dutton, Site Co-ordinator, was really impressed with Iain, as she explains:
“Iain came to my attention because of his drive and enthusiasm whilst on the programme. I didn’t know he was on the BAOH programme until half way through week 1 when 3 individuals came to me separately with good comments about him.”
Sinead arranged for Iain to spend the second week of his placement with A J Morrisroe, a subcontractor for Carillion. They saw the same qualities in him and, the week after the placement ended, had begun working for them as an assistant engineer. He continues to work on the same site as before and is “extremely proud to be part of a project that will be on Birmingham’s skyline for a long time.”
Thanks to taking part in the Ready for Work programme, Iain’s life has improved dramatically. But the positive changes have not stopped with employment – Carillion are now helping Iain to assess the options available to him in order to train as an engineer. Iain is focussing on his goals for the future and looks forward to his career ahead:
“I would like to study, but as a night course. I don’t want to stop working – I enjoy it too much!”
