Stories
Scott's Story
This is Scott. Scott is one of the more reserved people who access the Life Skills Centre. He has confidence issues when it comes to speaking, preferring to write things down rather than expresses them vocally. Although he is quiet, he enjoys the company of other people, being active and has a big interest in music and food. With all this knowledge in mind, thanks to Dexx’s person-centred approach, Scott has been working in the café alongside George buying ingredients and preparing and cooking meals, which he has really taken too.
Not only is he enjoying himself and learning about the hospitality and catering industry, due to the customer service element of the role (serving on the till, taking payments and shouting orders) it has immensely improved his confidence issues in only a short space of time.
Scott now has a paid job in the café of the Family Activity Centre enterprise of Dexx on a Saturday.
“It’s my favourite day of the week and I always look forward to waking up and coming into work. I work with Stacey (Kitchen Manager) who I really like because she’s very friendly and helps me with anything I need. I enjoy serving and talking to the public and getting to meet new people. This job is great for my confidence and the money gives me the independence to buy the things I like.”
Lewis' Story
This is Lewis. He came to Dexx as a very bright individual who has achieved a degree in mathematics at Sheffield Hallam University. But struggled with the life skills most people take for granted, such as travelling alone, engaging with new people and just overall experience in a working environment.
He attended the centre for 2 years and in that time worked in all areas of the commercial business to get as much work experience as possible, such as on the reception desk improving his people and overall customer service skills, marshalling activities, T-shirt printing and even working with the more senior staff using his intelligence to help with business plans and admin.
Through the help of the Life Skills Centre, we are happy to say that Lewis has now secured himself a full-time paid position at AESSEAL as a Data Entry Administrator. AESSEAL are a massive mechanical engineering firm in South Yorkshire.
Our team of experts helped him during every step of this process. From CV building, to filling out applications, interview preparation and even supporting him in the work place until he was comfortable.
He describes starting his job with AESSEAL as providing him with “a sense of purpose in this world - I have a reason to get up in the morning.”
“My fellow employees who assign me work tasks have always provided me with a wider reason for them - and thus, increased my self-worth – if I ever doubted the contributions, I make in completing these tasks. Overall, my job has generally given me more control over my own life and how I proceed in it.”
George's Story
This is George, he has a keen interest in working in a kitchen/catering environment so started coming to Dexx to gain work experience working in the cafe.
“I also enjoy a lot of the other things Dexx has to offer such as the reception/marshalling, printing jobs and down in the woodwork shop.”
The Dexx staff have also been helping him with travel training as he’s currently trying to get better at traveling alone. He was let down a lot in the past by the standard college/education system because of the lack of 1-to-1 support available. However, since starting here his confidence in doing stuff alone is much better.
“I love working alongside Scott in creating some delicious recipes. I also now come in and gain paid work on Wednesday nights when Dexx is open to the public and love it.”
Michael's Story
This is Michael. Michael is and always has been very passionate about health and safety and is very keen on first aid in particular. He has expressed his interest in maybe one day being part of the St Johns ambulance team but up until now it has not been possible as he has never had a place to learn and practice first aid within a safe environment.
Thanks to the Life Skills Centre he now has the opportunity to learn the trade, shadowing experienced, qualified first aiders in a real-life setting, who are also tutoring him through his basic first aid certificate.
Alongside this he is also learning about health and safety from other perspectives such as doing maintenance checks, safety inspections, fire drills as well as helping marshal the Family Activity Centre in the commercial element of Dexx.
“I love going to Dexx and learning all about first aid and safety. I work with the Dexx staff to keep the place safe and look after customers to make sure they’re safe and having a good time”
Richard's Story
This is Richard. Richard has been coming to the Dexx Life Skills Centre for almost 2 years now. He attends the centre on Mondays and Tuesdays to gain in house work experience doing all the different things Dexx has to offer. Our team of experts have been supporting him with employment and life-based skills and are also helping him with his functional Maths and English.
Through attending the Life Skills Centre, Roger now also gains paid employment in the construction enterprise Dexx has to offer. His part-time job has provided him with a sense of belonging and achievement.
“My job has given me chance to learn different bits of the building trades which will hopefully set me up for full time work in the future”, he said.
“When I’m out on site, I love the feeling of being involved and part of the team. It gives me a sense of achievement when we get it done which is a great feeling.”
Stephen's Story
This is Stephen. Stephen has been coming to Dexx now for a couple of years. He is a lively character, full of energy, enthusiasm, who's willing to get stuck in and try any task he's assigned.
During this time he has been working on his functional skills in Maths and English, which he is not the most confident with, as well as getting involved with building maintenance, equipment checks, cleaning and any other general day to day duties.
Stephen now gains paid employment on a Thursday through the Dexx construction enterprise and loves it as he says it gives him a sense of purpose.
"I love going out with the team on a Thursday because it gives me a reason to get up, out the house and not feel lazy"
"My favourite part of the job is learning new skills every day. I also enjoy the social side of it too. Being out on site and having a laugh with everyone"
