JET

Gurmeet came and registered with JET in July 2006. She was a widow originally from India, now living in the East End of Newcastle. Gurmeet was a regular at the Kiran women's Group, and a friend there told her about JET and their Outreach Adviser Brenda Johnston. Gurmeet decided to register with JET and spoke to Brenda - she took her certificates in, and her CV to be updated. Brenda quickly became aware through talking to Gurmeet, that she had over 15 years' of retail experience and that she was keen to follow on with this, but that she was actually very well qualified with much more to offer. Brenda helped Gurmeet to apply for work in education and social care areas, resulting in her securing a job as a Classroom Support Worker in Wallsend. Gurmeet says, "I learned to be a more assertive person, and it helped me to really believe in myself." She then went on to be an Additional Support Worker at Tyne Met College, working with young people with learning and behavioural difficulties. This involved Gurmeet helping students on a one-to-one basis with literacy, numeracy, cooking, IT and tutorials. In one case, Gurmeet said she helped a girl who had problems with speech and she feels proud of her key role in helping her improve. The students would also be given tasks such as how to use buses, plan shopping trips, and how to integrate more in the outside world and become independent. Gurmeet found this work particularly rewarding and says she enjoyed being able to help people, in turn helping her to build her own confidence and realise her own skills.

Gurmeet will be doing similar work as part of a playscheme, getting involved in activities, when term starts again. Of JET Gurmeet says, "JET helped me - I felt really lost before I came to them. I didn't know where I fitted in, but Brenda helped me to start again and develop my potential."