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Gemmas Story
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I first came to the project because I required some work experience of working with others to get on a social work course next year.
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I contacted Scope because they were for people with disabilities and I was interested in experience in this area as although I am disabled myself I have little experience with other disabled people. Scope then passed me onto the Awake Project as it was local to me and I contacted Michael.
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This Project appealed to me because it is disabled people helping disabled people, so instead of my disability preventing me doing voluntary work it was actually helping me and a benefit rather than negative as it is nearly always seen as.
When I first met the group I was concerned because they had seen disabilities and I don’t and was afraid I wouldn’t fit in. However, this was not the case and even though we have very different disabilities we have a lot in common and to discuss.
The training was good as it was only two hours a week so could be fitted into our lives. A lot of voluntary work doesn’t understand you cannot give too much time especially when disabled, people do not understand and expect too much from you. I have got a lot our of training, obviously I have learnt new skills and it has helped me to identify my strengths and weaknesses but also I have been around people who experience being disabled and can understand things more than others because they have never experience it. I have learnt some details about Cerebral palsy as I never really understood it before so it has raised my awareness of the condition.
My first meeting with my mentee went well. Even though I have never experienced the problem she has I feel I can use other skills I do have to help her which is what it’s about. Now we have started mentoring and finished training I am glad I took part in this Project as I feel part of a team and hopefully can help my mentee achieve something they perhaps cannot on their own. I hope I will learn from my mentee as well as them learn from me and I think what I am doing now is more valuable for my future not just work experience but for my personal development.
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