Sasha Jones has just secured herself a job as a full time Support Worker. After beginning her volunteering experience with Crest in January 2016, she was initially based in the Crest shop in Colwyn Bay, helping out with the staff and vulnerable adults there.
“At the time I was unemployed, sitting at home, depressed. It gave me a purpose – to help the community and it got out me out of bed each day. The people there are amazing and they’ve become my friends. I loved it there, and everyone treated me as an equal despite my age – it was great’.
Sasha continued to volunteer regularly at the shop for over 6 months, and then began to branch out a little, helping out with our operations, particularly with deliveries and collections. “I loved going out on the vans with Pete. He was fun and we made a good team”.
Sasha admits that as she developed her skills within her volunteering role she began to notice that her confidence really began to blossom: “My social skills improved a lot”, she says. As someone that struggles with anxiety, I knew that I had the support of the staff and volunteers there – everyone really helped me when I went through difficult times”.
In her two years at Crest, Sasha has volunteered in several roles within Crest including retail, assisting on the vans, warehouse duties, and helping to prepare the white goods for resale. But it was her time working with the vulnerable adults at Crest that really helped secure her a position as a full time Support Worker. “After working with the service users at Crest, it gave me the confidence to do this type of work elsewhere. I thought, if I can do it at Crest, I can do it as a full-time job”.
“Volunteering for Crest has been great, and has helped with my knowledge and understanding of the many different people we have in the world, and how to support them in their lives”.