- Charity that helps disabled Islanders find work sees spike in number of people being referred with mental health issues
- Jersey Employment Trust says employers have a positive approach to finding work for clients
- Read about how two Islanders were helped by the JET following life-changing events
THE number of people with mental health problems who have been referred to an employment service set up to help people with disabilities has soared by more than a quarter in the last two years.
Despite the increase in the number of Islanders with mental health issues, the Jersey Employment Trust says there is a ‘positive attitude’ among Jersey employers towards offering their clients jobs.
The registered charity – which this year celebrates its 15th anniversary – helps anyone with a disability, including people with conditions such as autism, learning difficulties or long-term medical issues, find work.
But last year, more than 40 per cent of new referrals to the trust were Islanders with mental health problems, compared with 13 per cent in 2013. They now make up almost a quarter of the trust’s case load.
Jocelyn Butterworth, the charity’s executive officer, said: ‘The range of people with disabilities and long-term health conditions that we support is becoming much more diverse, with a significant rise in people with mental health problems.
‘However, we do get an equal number of jobs which can be found for people with health issues as well as other clients. People are being fairly treated in Jersey by employers. There is a positive attitude by employers towards people with any conditions, including mental health problems.
‘All the people JET work with come to us voluntarily. They are not forced to come to us, so it shows that they are motivated and willing to work.’
The service supports around 270 people and assists them with every aspect of finding paid employment such as interview coaching, arranging work experience or internships and providing intensive one-to-one on-the-job support.
The trust also offers work placements at its retail outlet at Acorn Enterprises in Trinity, selling plants from the Acorn Nursery and bicycles from Oakfield Cycles.
A total of 152 jobs were found last year and15 Islanders were put on a paid internship programme.
This year the trust will link up with the mental health charity Mind Jersey to host its annual conference on 8 October. The title of the conference will be Managing Wellbeing and Mental Health in the Workplace.
Mrs Butterworth said: ‘Employers are telling us about tension and stress. It is a big issue in the workplace, but attitudes have changed now. It was used to be seen as a good thing to be highly competitive and stress was not brought up, but people are talking about it more and being more proactive.
‘We will be providing a top-ten tips about Jersey in terms of promoting a healthy workplace. We want to create a safe and productive work environment for everyone.’
NEIL Baal is an IT security and infrastructure specialist. He worked as a mechanic until he had to have his leg amputated at the age of 24 because of a disease caused by a genetic anomaly.
He said: ‘I had no real option to go back to my job as a mechanic but luckily I had the foresight to think of other options.
‘I had been studying for my IT exams independently because I had an interest in it but it was a catch-22 situation, as I had exams but no experience.’
Through JET Mr Baal was given work placements within an office environment. This led to employment with IT security firm Logicalis, based in Five Oaks, where he has worked for the last three years.
He said: ‘They took me on even though I was a mechanic with no experience. I started on the help desk and have worked my way up the ranks. I now look after our own infrastructure here in the office, including the servers.’
Mr Baal said he appreciated the ‘positive’ support he was offered through JET, which included helping him to write a new CV and finding him work placements. To offer something in return, he is providing workplace support to Nuno Dionisio, who was given an internship at Logicalis through JET.
He said: ‘I know what JET do and I am happy to mentor Nuno. The company needed some frontline support and there was an opening there for Nuno. The plan is to follow this forward with the help of management. They also take Back to Work and Trident placements. I think the place is richer for it. Nuno’s confidence levels have risen through talking to customers on the help desk and this has improved him as a man.’
Mr Dionisio, who has a form of autism, has been with JET for several years and has been on an internship with Logicalis for three months.
He said: ‘ JET helped me to get into catering at first. I didn’t feel like it was the right work for me but I came into IT and I am still loving it. I did a BTEC level 2 in IT and I was looking for a place to hire me. People didn’t give me a chance at first, but I am not that different from many people. I have my quirks. JET helped me a lot and I have worked my way through in-house training here.’
CASE STUDY 2
DEBBIE Jeal gained a permanent part-time job as a support worker with Age Concern Jersey through JET, and has responsibility for art and activities.
She was previously a busy art lecturer at Highlands College as well as teaching GSCE art for adults and classes for disabled children at Mont à l’Abbé School.
Five years ago she she began having headaches and became sensitive to light, finding it ‘agonising’ to be outside in the daylight.
Mrs Jeal said: ‘It was a lot like a migraine. I went to the doctor and was referred to a specialist. When they diagnosed me as having a tumour, I was referred very quickly to a London hospital.’
The tumour, on the frontal lobe of her brain, had grown to the size of a golf ball and she underwent a six-hour operation to remove it.
She said: ‘When I came round I felt really well and when the swelling went down I could do a bit of drawing and I was building that up.’
However, her hopes of returning to her career were dashed when she had to undergo further surgery which left her unable to draw a stick man.
‘I am not sure many employers would have taken on someone with a brain injury and JET allowed me to overcome this.’
Debbie Jeal
Mrs Jeal said: ‘My short-term memory was awful. Luckily I was a teacher, so I was able to work out some strategies to make my memory better and I lived by notepads. I had to write down reminders for everything, from taking a shower to eating and drinking. I spent every day reading the dictionary, picking three words a day to study. I couldn’t understand time at all or how long something would take, or measurement. Sequence was a big problem for me.’
Mrs Jeal had to give up full-time teaching but was supported by JET and Headway, as well as a an occupational therapist at the Hospital, to return to work. She was also given special glasses by the occupational therapy department, to correct her distorted vision.
She said: ‘It was difficult to get back to work at first because I didn’t know what I was doing. I remembered I had worked in retail years ago, so JET gave me a seasonal placement with Acorn, on the till. It was fantastic and the staff really organised me and were very supportive. Julie Stringer, my support worker at JET, also worked aside me, helping me at every stage.’
Mrs Jeal spent time on a placement at Palm Springs Nursing Home and had a lot of empathy for dementia patients and stroke victims.
‘I understand how scary the world is if you don’t know your own thoughts’, she said.
Mrs Jeal was given a placement with Age Concern Jersey and now works part-time running the arts and crafts class at the Val Plaisant centre.
‘I had to re-learn how to do art, so I learnt through teaching again,’ she said.
‘Everyone has different abilities and learns in different ways. I am so grateful to the JET staff for their patience, and for allowing me to go at my own pace, as well as Headway and my occupational therapist.
‘I am not sure many employers would have taken on someone with a brain injury and JET allowed me to overcome this.
‘There were some people who said I just had to accept the way I had become after the surgery, but that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to be the best for myself and here I am, five years later.
‘Even a year ago I was in such a different place than I am now. I have pushed myself constantly and I was very clear about what I wanted. I didn’t want to sit back and be vacant in a chair. At first, I didn’t know what my capabilities were and there was no certainty, but engaging with society is a key part of recovery.
‘Surely I am better to society if I am enjoying my life and doing what I can. It would have been a tragedy for me and my family if I hadn’t been able to do that.’
