Cymraeg

Prior to the pandemic Aaron* had worked as a Warehouse Packer. When the COVID-19 restrictions were made a legal requirement, he found himself out of work.

After being out of work for a few years, Aaron joined the Restart Scheme. Unfortunately, shortly after enrolling, Aaron became homeless. Without a postal address, he was unable to apply for jobs. Tegan – Aaron’s job coach from Remploy – encouraged him to speak with local homeless charities in the area and he made enquires to find a place to stay. Sadly, all his applications were unsuccessful. Aaron was now living on the streets and struggling to get by.

However, Aaron was resilient and did not give up. He was eventually assigned temporary accommodation by Bridgend Council. With accommodation now secured, it became clear that another barrier to Aaron finding work was that he didn’t have any formal identification documents as they had gone missing when he was homeless. Aaron mentioned to Tegan that he had been saving for several months to get a copy of his birth certificate. Tegan reached out through the appropriate channels and was able to get authorisation to purchase the birth certificate on Aaron’s behalf. 

When Aaron received his birth certificate in April, just one week later, he was finally able to apply for a job and was successful in securing temporary work as a General Labourer with a local construction company. Moreover, after only a few days working for the company, Aaron had made such a strong first impression, he was offered a permanent role.

Aaron is now working fulltime in sustainable employment and because of this, he also has somewhere to live. This has significantly improved his outlook and the future is looking bright. 

*Pseudonym