Peter's story

Peter is a shining example of what Tomorrow's People Experience to Employment programme is about; he's somebody who has a known mental illness and yet been able to overcome all the odds, while challenging the stereotypes and barriers that people with mental health may face.

Peter he was very articulate and knew what he wanted.  He knew that he wanted to work within the media or public relations as he had a lot of work history and experience in events planning and organising. Peter had already planned and organised a major town centre show two years previously. His duties had involved contacting the vendors, managing all the sound checks and hosting the quiz show.  It would be fair to say that Peter had financial and creative control over most of the show. In fact he managed most of the production and schedule of the show.

But, although Peter had a lot of experience in events planning, he did not have any qualifications in that field which left him lacking confidence and self-esteem so Tomorrow' People suggested a course in events management and organisation.

Peter wanted to run and own his own establishment and had decided the course that would benefit him the most was a Personal Licence Holder course level 3.  Tomorrow's People helped him to find a reputable local company that specialised in Personal Licence Holder courses.  Within two weeks he had secured his initial assessment with the tutor. Another two weeks later he had successfully taken the exam and passed with flying colours. In the mean time, Peter's adviser at Tomorrow's People was helping him with job searching and found him a health and safety course as it was something that he wanted to brush up on.  He also completed and passed that course.

Peter is now putting together his business plan after which he hopes to get a loan and start his own business. 

Working in partnership with the North East London Mental Health Trust, Tomorrow's People supports people with mental health conditions to overcome their barriers to employment and/or training. Provision includes jointly run workshops with the health trust's occupational therapists, supported work placements at the Trust and ongoing one-to-one support.  London Councils supports Tomorrow's People with funding of £229,332 through its ESF (European Social Fund) co-financing programme.