Amarjit, an Abri customer, had just come out of a difficult relationship and found herself on her own with her son with no income. She was helped through our Radiant Futures project to claim Carers Allowance for her son which has alleviated financial pressures for her and is allowing her to pursue her dream working in a school while looking after her son.
When I found myself on my own with no income, I contacted CAB who helped me apply for Universal Credit. They also put me in touch with the Job Centre, who let me know about Abri’s Employment Services. I was feeling incredibly stressed about my family and financial situation and I wasn’t sure what to do next.
Jenn helped to create a CV for me and helped me look for courses around teaching assistant skills and local jobs. It was difficult as I was looking for something within school hours and then with Covid-19, the school sometimes shut and I would have to pick my son up from his special school in Maidenhead. This takes a while from Ascot and costs more money as usually he would get picked up and dropped off through a council school transport scheme.
Jenn referred me to the Abri Digi Skills course. I was given a tablet and taught how to use the Abri Portal. I now book all my repairs this way, it’s very easy to do. I appreciate having a tablet too as it helps me to apply for jobs, attend courses online and fill out forms much more easily than on my phone. I was also able to attend an employability session. This helped me understand what to include in my CV and how to write cover letters and applications. Jenn also helped me find an online introductory course about becoming a Teaching Assistant to help me understand what the job would entail. I have found online courses very helpful as I can do them around looking after my son.
With the help from CAB, I then applied for carers allowance and DLA for my son who has learning difficulties, but realised I was no better off financially. I spoke to Jenn who referred me to the Welfare Benefits team. Rachel called me and explained I was missing parts of the benefit. Jenn then contacted the Job Centre and I alerted them on my journal in order to change it. In the meantime, I had also been put on the Restart programme through the Job Centre. Jenn said that I shouldn’t be on this as I was on carers allowance and spoke to the Job Centre to take me off the course. This helped relieve pressure.
I recently applied for a job at my son’s school, Jenn helped me write my application and apply. I didn’t get the job, but it was good experience to go through the interview. I also applied to volunteer at my son’s old school locally, I thought it would be a good way to gain experience. They know me and were really happy for me to volunteer, they helped me with my DBS and I am looking forward to starting this next week!
In the future I hope to do a level 3 English skills course and perhaps a teaching assistant course.
Abri has have helped me so much. Whenever I have felt stressed, I have phoned Jenn and we have talked through options and she has helped me to calm down and relax, I feel so supported.
