John's Story Volunteering at Chase Aqua Rural Enterprise CIC

I started as a learner at CARE, became a volunteer, and I am now a member of the staff team. I have so much more confidence and pride.

I find it much easier to talk to others – staff, people that I haven’t met before that are on the courses, and also more confident to help them to find and share their own knowledge and ideas too.

When I became a peer mentor/volunteer at CARE this helped me to gain the experience I needed and confidence to look for employment again. It was a big step forward and one that I am very pleased to have taken.

I am now working at CARE and in another horticulture role locally – both are very different and that allows me to use all of my skills and gain even more experience for the future.

I am happy and grateful that I found people like CARE who helped me, were so supportive, encouraged me and helped me to find my confidence again. It has helped me to value the skills that I have to offer and to look forward to my future much more positively.