It’s never too late: Angela’s story

When she was young, Angela had to spend time in the hospital for possibly life-threatening cardiac issues, therefore she became a school leaver. She had at one point refused to leave her local town centre until she had a job and had spent the entire day walking through it; however, she finally found employment at Swansea’s Milk Maid Café.  Since then Angela had worked in roles within the cleaning and catering sectors. 

After getting married, Angela had a daughter who sadly passed away five years ago; this was an extremely difficult period in Angela’s life. In addition, she had to battle in court to be granted custody of her grandson, who was only six months old at the time.  

While dealing with such enormous life changes, Angela devoted her life to bringing up her grandson, who is now in school full-time. Angela decided, despite being 64 and almost retirement age, she wanted a career again, and made it her goal to get a role in retail, cleaning or catering.

With the assistance of her employability trainer and advisor, Angela began the Restart program and enrolled in IT training for beginners to assist her in creating a CV.  Angela’s advisor Debbie then printed out the CV for Angela to take copies to retail outlets and charity shops.  

While at a Job Center appointment, Angela’s work coach informed her of a local vacancy at a hotel. This presented Angela with the ideal chance, and she immediately handed her resume over. She was immediately given a 2-week word trial because the hotel staff were so impressed. Before she had even finished the trial, Angela received an offer for a job as the IBIS Hotel’s head housekeeper, working 16 hours per week in the lobby. 

Angela’s perseverance paid off, she had achieved her goals with a position that allows her to work and take care of her grandson. Without assistance from the Restart Scheme, according to Angela, she would not have gotten the job.