Over the past 10 years my life has gone from having everything to having nothing, and back to having everything plus more. A few years ago, I was given a 5% chance of survival after a suicide attempt and my family were told to say their goodbyes. Amazingly, a few days later I pulled through and decided I had to change. It wasn’t easy but I decided to contact Penumbra’s self-harm service and was helped by my Recovery Worker to start turning my life around.

On a few occasions my worker asked me if I would like to attend the local college with her to hold an information stall on Penumbra’s self-harm service. I enjoyed the opportunity to get out there and let people know about the service. I got so much support from my worker that I knew in the future I wanted to work for Penumbra and help people who have been through the same or similar things to myself, so when the job opportunity came up for a Peer Worker I jumped at the chance. I was given the opportunity to work one day per week and as I was only working one day per week I decided to go ahead and study the rest of the week, this required a 2-day placement which Penumbra were happy to allow me to do with them. It felt amazing to be back in employment after 9 years and doing a job that I always dreamed of doing even if it was only 2 days per week.

It gave me the opportunity to dip my toe in the water to see how I would cope with it all. I got a lot of support from my manager to complete my studies and I finally completed my university course in June. As my placement had then finished I went back down to working 1 day per week. I felt a little flat about it but it wasn’t long before I was offered another 3 days per week on a 3-month temporary contract.