Vailankani has grown so much from the day she began working with us. She has attended every GRoW session and is an active and engaged member of the GRoW app.
Vailankani said “I first heard about GRoW when the GRoW Team visited my child’s school to introduce parents to the Programme. I had only been in the UK since December 2020, which was the first time I had travelled out of India. I didn’t have any friends or support groups and I had never worked before, except for voluntary work in India. The GRoW Programme sounded really interesting and it was something I felt I really wanted to do.
Liz, Maria and Saeema introduced the GRoW Programme at an event at the school and all of us participating were asked to think about our goals for the future. It was great to be thinking about these things and it made all of us feel much more confident. Since joining GRoW it has really made me feel that I want to work. I have three children, in Years 10, 7 and 5 and so working in a school would be perfect for me as I would get school holidays off. GRoW run a ‘Preparing to work in schools’ workshop which I attended. I thought it was excellent and it helped me find out about the different types of jobs there are in schools such as School Meals Supervisory Assistant (SMSA), and Teaching Assistants. GRoW recommended I do a Level 2 Food Hygiene and Safety For Catering course which I have now completed and have been awarded a certificate.
I went on to attend all of the GRoW Workshops and Coffee Mornings and most recently I did the CV Workshop and Interview Coaching Workshop where Sonia ran through a mock interview with me. It was so good and has made me so much more confident as she really helped me understand the skills that I have and how they can be transferred into the workplace. The Job Searching Workshop was also really useful as it taught me so many things I didn’t know how to do. I read the GRoW News & Jobs Bulletin every week and have applied for quite a few of the jobs that have been advertised on there. I will keep searching for suitable job roles as I now feel like I know how to do it the best way.
The GRoW Team have been like angels to me, they have helped me so much and without them I really don’t know what I would have done. I have now made so many good friends through the GRoW group and I find it so much easier to make friends in my everyday life now too which has opened up a whole new world for me.”