Our stories

Sixty-year-old Brian came to our SIG Pathways Medway service as a self-referral. He moved into the area whilst working locally and was living in a caravan in woodland. Unfortunately, after some time the employment ended, and Brian’s financial and social isolation meant that his mental health began to suffer.

Brian displayed intense anger issues before attempting suicide, and after accessing mental health support, he was told about Pathways to Independence.

Whilst at Pathways, Brian continued to engage with mental health services as well as use the medication prescribed by his GP.  His main goals were to get back to work, get off his medication, improve his physical health and find permanent accommodation.  

Brian had always worked and was desperate to return to employment. He was very experienced in construction but felt that he needed to update his certificates to return to the industry. He fully engaged with local job clubs and completed the courses that were available to him. As the job clubs can only fund courses up to a certain level, the high-level certificates Brian needed to complete his portfolio were not available to him for free. Pathways’ Welfare Fund was applied for, and authorisation was given to pay for the management course he needed to complete his portfolio. He completed the course and passed the exam.

At the same time, Brian was recovering from an operation that corrected an old injury that had made mobility difficult from time to time. He had been introduced to walking football by a Peer Mentor from Pathways’ Lottery-funded, Inspiring Change project and enjoyed the physical and social aspects of the sessions. It was hoped that he could return to it after recovery from his operation.

Brian settled well at Pathways and with the counselling received, managed to complete a planned medication reduction program with his GP as well as stopping his anti-depressants over time. He was very pleased with this and said that he felt much better.

Brian improved his financial management and is well on the way to clearing all outstanding debt. He also completed the Tenancy Accreditation course run by Medway Council.

Brian became a Peer Mentor and in turn, helped other clients to achieve their goals. He started a cooking club in one of Pathways’ Kent projects, which proved quite successful.

Because of his volunteering, Brian was eligible to bid on Homechoice in a high banding and was accepted into the MHS Housing Cooperative nomination scheme. 

Brian was successful in getting an MHS property and moved on to resettlement. Outreach Support was given, initially, until Brian felt able to live independently.

*Brian’s name has been changed to protect his identity