AL started coming to The ClementJames Centre for support to find a job and learn English. She describes how ClementJames has helped relieve pressure on her and her family in the time she has been accessing our services.
“All I can tell you is that [ClementJames] has helped me with a lot of things. They help my children with their homework, I get mentoring here, I’ve done English courses, I was helped to find a job, they helped me get my confidence back. In the beginning my self-confidence was low and I was looking for a job.
I found it really difficult to find a job because everything was online and I was not good with technology but I attended an English course and a computer course and Bobby showed me how to look and I would come into the centre every week to search for a job. Now I work in a school as a lunchtime catering assistant and I’m happy at my job and I enjoy it.
ClementJames has also shown me how to fill in a lot of forms – for Council Tax and for Universal Credit. I don’t like going to other organisations but I feel confident coming here because it’s like I’m seeing a friend rather than going into an office. I’ve known people here for 15 years, so when I’m going here I feel confident.
ClementJames has also helped my children with homework club, mentoring, and academic support. It’s helped because they have people to support them after school. We’re overcrowded at home but at the centre they have space to do their homework and it’s a safe space to come to.
Secondly, they also have someone to talk to. When my daughter goes to the homework club, she knows she always has someone to talk to her privately if she’s struggling. My daughter has been suffering from PTSD after Grenfell. I didn’t know where to go or where to start so I called you guys and you referred me to Grenfell Tower Wellbeing Centre to talk to somebody and now they’re helping her. ClementJames also helped me apply for two more laptops for my children to do Google Classroom during lockdown when they had to do school online as we didn’t have enough at home.
It would have been very difficult without ClementJames. It’s not just like a community, it’s like as second home and the people who work there are like family. When we go there, we come to see all the familiar faces. You can’t find another organisation like them, it’s completely different. There are a lot of organisations but all of them are different to ClementJames.”
*Picture is a ClementJames stock photo.