Adjusting to new challenges – Luke’s story

Luke was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome in his early 20s. The condition affects the rhythm of his heart and was first noticed when Luke collapsed whilst out with friends at a car show. He was fitted with a pacemaker and his diagnosis had a significant impact on his life, preventing him from playing sports and being as active as he used to be.

"It took a while to find out what was wrong, and I have to take it easy now, as my pacemaker keeps things going okay.”

Employment Adviser, Anna, worked with Luke to prepare him for work and to identify any barriers that they could overcome. Together they created an action plan to give Luke more of a direction with his job search. He managed to complete several of our in-house courses which supported with social engagement, resilience, interview skills, and job applications.

Anna provided Luke with vouchers for new interview clothes, and reimbursed his travel costs to ensure that Luke’s job search and transition into work didn’t financially impact him. Luke said:

“My Employment Advisers have been great; I did lots of training on interview practice and building my confidence. The workshops taught me how to effectively job search, and the team have always supported and been here for me during my time with Better Working Futures.

"My Employment Adviser assisted me with job interview preparation - I then applied for a role at Burger King and was successful!”

Following Luke’s new job offer, Anna shared: "We worked closely with Luke on his interview skills to give him the confidence to succeed. I was so happy for him when he got the good news from Burger King, we made sure they were aware of his health condition, and we have helped them to understand how they can support Luke if he is having any problems with his heart.”
 
Luke said: "The team at Reed in Partnership will go to the end of the world and back to help you. My job is now making people smile and I love it."