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Success stories
Paul is doing what he’s always loved and getting paid for it - messing about with cars!
Paul is now 39, and after a five-year period of unemployment due to health problems he’s back in employment and loving every minute of it! He’s been working for a coachworks company in Feltham, Pond and Sharman, who deal mainly with crash repairs, since August 2006. I went to visit him to see how he was getting on.
Paul told me that having been a mechanic for ten years, and then a driver for 3 years, he started to suffer with pains in his hands. He had to have an operation on his left hand to remove a trapped nerve, and then finally, after lots of tests, he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. A doctor told him in 2001 that he should no longer drive anything bigger than a car or work in mechanics. He didn’t know what to do, and ended up on Incapacity Benefit for five years.
Early in 2005 Paul went to see the Disability Employment Adviser, Francis, at Staines Jobcentre, who told him about Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation Training College. He attended an Open Day and decided he wanted to apply for the Painting and Decorating course, but unfortunately his application was turned down because he couldn’t do ladder work. Not to be defeated, Paul re-applied, this time for the Vehicle Refinishing course as he’d always had an interest in cars, and was successful. He started training in August 2005 and completed his course in May 2006. He said: “The College was so good, I didn’t want to leave! The whole place felt very homely, and although I stayed in the week, it was close enough for me to travel home every weekend to see my wife and kids. I was made to feel welcome and everyone was treated in the same way. The course was very enjoyable and interesting, and it opened my eyes to a serious amount of work.”
Paul then went on a work placement, arranged by the College, with a company in Ashford, but they had nothing to offer him on a permanent basis. Paul decided to “let his fingers do the walking” and went through the Yellow Pages! He rang several local companies without success, but when he got through to Pond and Sharman they invited him for an interview the same day. He took his portfolio along, showing the work he’d carried out at the College, and they were so impressed they offered him a job to start the following Monday!
Paul’s work is mainly prepping, which involves rubbing down, masking, and priming the vehicles for the final job. Paul really enjoys it, and said, “I love the work. I can’t get enough of it! It’s so rewarding to see the finished product and I get a lot of job satisfaction. I think it’s the best thing I ever did – the whole thing from day one at the College to the present day. If I hadn’t done what I did, I’d be kicking myself and still sitting at home unemployed.”
“I’d like to say a big thank you to the College, and to my instructors, Dave and Tony.”
