Mosaic Clubhouse kept me out of hospitalMarcia is a familiar face at the Clubhouse and often provides visitors, staff and members with a warm welcome and wise words, when she isn't busy in the Cafe. She is about to start a TEP with one of our employment partners , SLaM's SHARP team. We asked her about her decision and this is what she told us:
"My name is Marcia and I have been attending Mosaic for over 10 years.
Before coming to Clubhouse I was always in and out of hospitals. My first hospital admission was when I was14 and half years old and I was there for about a year.
Things I have done in Clubhouse really helped me. It kept me out of hospitals and gave me a purpose in life. My usual activities are helping in the kitchen and cafe and cashing up.
Recently I was offered to try to do TEP. At first, I thought "no way". I have never done any paid work before and I felt I could not handle it. Lenka, one of the Support Workers, told me “Come and JUST have a look at the job, nothing more”.
When I got to the TEP site, and was shown the tasks the job involves, it changed my mind. It seemed refreshing, the fear of doing it went away and I felt excited.
Later on I was telling my sister about it and she encouraged me to give it a try.
I am now in a process of getting the necessary paperwork ready and will start the training in a few weeks.
I feel so happy now because I am looking forward to starting my very first job and to having a new purpose." A month into her Transitional Employment Placement:
I really enjoy my first month working at SHARP team doing my general assistant post.The training was very helpful, and I am now doing the job myself only needing occasional reminder of how to do something. I made new acquaintances,speaking often with other staff and Clubhouse members who work at SHARP. They are all very friendly and helpful. I feel I have more confidence now. My family gives me a call in the mornings to make sure I am up and getting ready, but I am getting much better with my routine, challenging my self to get up earlier and doing much more walking. Instead of taking 2 or 3 buses, as I used to before, I walk to Clapham Common and the take 37 bus to Brixton. I also started Keep Fit class. I have the purpose to get up in the morning and I still go to Clubhouse regularly. I think there are many people who would like to try the TEP but they are frighten of loosing the benefits etc... To those I would like to say: Do no be frighten,TEP should not make you lose the benefits. And if you struggle with your confidence, I would say: Do not say "I can't", but say "I can!" Because once I felt frightened, but now I have tried, I enjoy every single day of my new experiences.
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