Volunteer Case Study

I have always wanted to work with people but had low confidence and self esteem since childhood. I’m not interested in making lots of money. For me, the real value in this world is people and the things that matter to me are helping people to make real changes in their lives.
I have a long history of self harm and mental health problems which started when I began taking drugs at a young age. I have had drug induced psychosis and been arrested many times for violence to others and myself and spent a lot of time in accident and emergency.
My contact with CRI began was when I underwent an ambulatory detox in hospital. Once I had a clear mind I just knew I wanted to work in this sector so I took a deep breath, took the plunge, and enrolled on the peer mentor training course: one day a week for 12 weeks. When I started, I remember thinking "I really can’t do this" and I suffered from real anxiety and no confidence. But I stuck with it, with invaluable support and help from the trainers and fellow peer mentors. I then went to college to study the Progression Award in drugs and alcohol. I left school with no qualifications at all so going to college was a real big thing for me. I passed and now volunteer at several CRI projects.
My confidence is growing daily through volunteering for CRI and it has helped me enormously. I have been volunteering now for over a year and a half as well as working full time and I can honestly say I enjoy it much more than my job. I would like to work in this sector one day and will apply for a job in the future when I feel ready. There isn’t one day I haven’t enjoyed or learnt something about clients and myself.
CRI has helped me enormously in dealing with my own issues and problems with substances as well as giving me training and support which I couldn’t have got anywhere else. Instead of fearing the future I now embrace it.