When Jamie joined NOW, she was referred to ‘Project ABLE ‘(Autism Building Links to Employment) and assigned a one-to-one support worker to help her find paid employment. Support worker Rachel Gibson explains, ‘There’s a huge untapped resource out there of people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who really want to work and have real skills to bring to the labour market but find it difficult to know where to start. Project ABLE which is delivered in Partnership with the Orchardville Society and funded by The Big Lottery, helps individuals with ASD to gain confidence and get the job they want and keep it’. Jamie and Rachel worked closely together for just under a year, with Jamie working in a voluntary placement and accessing NOW’s training services.

This training service offers adults with learning difficulties courses that will increase their confidence and prepare them for the world of work. Jamie completed Independent Travel Training, Money Management and Foundation to Employment courses before securing paid employment; courses which undoubtedly helped her achieve this job. ‘During my time working closely with Jamie I have seen her confidence grow immensely, although she was always determined to gain paid employment she has gained maturity and recognises her own skills now. Jamie and I noted that her talents were her attention to detail and her ability to focus, talents which we felt would be suited to cleaning. We call this job-matching and in NOW we do this for all our clients.’ NOW’s employment and training services are available to anybody with a learning difficulty living in the North and West of Belfast. NOW also has a social economy business, LOAF catering which has three cafes in Belfast and provides high quality corporate catering. These cafes are training kitchens for people with learning difficulties and profits from the businesses are ploughed back into the charity.

Jamie still has access to support from NØW and still attends their training courses but works hard by herself and needs little support. ‘I get myself up to start work at 7am six days a week and I really enjoy it. I feel happy that I can do this by myself now, I’d been waiting for paid work for a long time, and it’s good to know that if I do need support I can call NØW. This job is great, I love working hard and if I didn’t work I’d be stuck in the house all day’. To find out more about more people who NØW assists or how they can assist you, please visit www.nowproject.co.uk.