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This blog post is literally a year in the making. It's my first anniversary of working at Hi9!
I googled the anniversaries, and apparently it's paper for the first one, so I'm going to treat myself this evening with a new book and a cuppa.
Tell you the truth, for a long time I didn't know if I'd ever make it here. School was never really my cup of tea, and then I had my boys and finding work was always about what I could fit in around looking after them. I don't regret it for a second, but there were some scary times there, when I didn't know where the next meal would come from.
We found our way through in the end, with the support of friends, and family, and the lovely folks at our local foodbank. The boys are grown up now, and I couldn't be prouder. My youngest just started an apprenticeship to be a mechanic - he's promised to have a look at my car one of these days, which is fab cause it needs the TLC. My eldest's at uni and he’ll be home soon for the summer. I just love setting an extra place at my table for him - or anyone else who drops round, and I'm so lucky to be at a point where I can offer that.
So here I am. A year in a job I love, where I get to chat to interesting people all day and make those life admin tasks as smooth as I possibly can.
It's hard to believe how far we've come in twelve months. I'm still the same person I was before - I'll always love a cup of tea and a walk with a slice of cake at the end of it - but I've got to learn and grow so much as well. If I keep on going like this, I think I'll need a hankie by the time I'm done!
When I started, I was directing people to job centres and foodbanks, and connecting them to the wonderful folks over at People Hub. But I've been learning something new every week. Heck, every day. It's been a real whirlwind learning all the ins and outs of Universal Credit so I can answer questions on it and help estimate how much other people can get. And then the same again for Housing Benefit.
Between that, when we've had a minute, I've been training to tell you when your bin and recycling days are - though I still can't remember mine for the life of me, always got to go back and check my own file!
Just last week, I learned how to help other people in their job searches. I can check for specific jobs in specific towns, or by commute distance, which would have been a godsend back when I was last looking. I can't wait to help people find the right thing for them. I know just how much difference it makes.
All that, in just one year. Writing it down, I can't believe it! It never would have been possible without all my incredible colleagues at Hi9. I'm so chuffed, and thrilled, to be in this with all of them.
So here's to another bustling, brilliant year!
