People

We are very grateful to those who have given permission for their stories to be featured on this website. More will be added in due course but if you also have a story to tell please contact us.

WALKING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD

Having taught Mathematics for nearly twenty-five years and after several years of going through a very difficult period of family and personal breakdown, where it seemed to be impossible  to get social services, the medical profession and other professional services to address the real issues, I eventually re-located to Cornwall in early 2004 where I was originally brought up. The local employment office put me in touch with Pentreath East, based in Liskeard, an organisation committed to helping those who have encountered difficulties finding employment due to mental health disability issues. Over a period of a further two or three years - a process elongated because, intermittently, I was required to return to London to take full time care of my children - they helped me in the process of preparing to return to work and found two short term voluntary work placements for me, the second being at Fitzgerald Lighting Ltd, based in Bodmin. Initially I worked for only about twenty hours a week but I was quickly able to increase this to full time.

As a result of this second placement, I was offered full time employment assisting in the IT department at Fitzgerald's, initially for a trial period but later on a permanent basis. Whilst still early days and working in areas which are essentially new to me, I have been ( encouraged and allowed !! ) and asked to do a variety of tasks and, amongst other things, have already been able to achieve considerable monthly savings by negotiating several new admin and service contracts for the company.

Knowing how difficult it is to rebuild having been hit by "life's forty tonne truck!", I can but express my grateful thanks to those individuals within Pentreath and Fitzgerald's for lending me a helping hand in the rebuilding process - rather than "walking by on the other side" - and I would want to encourage as many other organisations / individuals as possible to invest in and value their employees / people in appropriately similar ways.

Dennis Blatchford
Fitzgerald Lighting

As a family owned Company, Fitzgerald Lighting Ltd, transfer family values such as support and encouragement within a safe environment to our business ethics and we see MINDFUL EMPLOYER as a way for us to help the more vulnerable members of the local community. We are pleased to be part of the initiative that breaks down barriers for those that are willing to help themselves, and this certainly has been of mutual benefit with the success we have had.

Matthew Eccleston, HR Manager,
Fitzgerald Lighting
Fitzgerald Lighting Ltd are a signatory to the Charter for Employers who are Poisitive About Mental Health

COMING BACK AFTER BEING AWAY

My name is Christopher Newell and my story is not another’s story for each story is unique. However, there may be something in the telling of the stories which connects, which encourages, which changes attitudes and practices towards the employment of people with mental health issues.
So, a little of my ‘story’. I am an Anglican priest, married with two daughters, who, eight years ago, suffered a major mental health crisis that resulted in a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression), long stays in a mental health unit and early retirement. With the help of my family, the mental health professionals involved and my own rather bloody-minded determination, I was able, after two and a half years, to contemplate returning to work, part of that work being employed by the Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust as a Chaplain based at the same hospital where I was a patient.
At my interview for the post, I was, as I have been ever since, very open about my mental health issues which enabled the management of the Trust to put in place a support network for me in case not only in case a crisis might develop in the future but that also I might felt confident that the continuing day to day management of my ‘illness’ enabled to contemplate employment with hope and optimism and expectation. Which is why, I feel so passionate about the MINDFUL EMPLOYER initiative and the opportunity it offers both employer and employee the chance to use and develop the gifts and talents so often unrecognized and unacknowledged in those with mental health issues.

Revd Christopher Newell
Chaplain, Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust

We will shortly be adding more personal and employer accounts to this page.