Growing into a Leaf upon the Hornbeam Tree
I had just arrived at the Job Centre for my prospective role with Hornbeam Training & Wellbeing on a rather cloudy day. Upon entering the building and being introduced to my interviewer Claire Bennett, I felt quite comfortable & able to express myself with the questions she asked of me. Throughout the whole interview process, she always expressed a desire to hear my thoughts and made me feel welcome with both her attitude & body language, having such an expressive conversation I left the interview feeling quite confident & happy.
Upon receiving the phone call several days later I was offered the position in full which had instantly cheered up my day as I gratefully accepted it, I would start on January 31stas a Social Media & Support Administrator.
Walking in that morning on January 31st was both the most nervous yet thrilling experience I had ever felt as my first job, immediately upon sitting down & meeting Claire as both a colleague & mentor I felt supported & looked after. She gave me all the tools I required for my job as well as giving me a well-crafted plan for me to follow. I fell in love instantly with one of the programs I was using, namely Canva which was an artistic creative tool used to make all ranges of items such as posters or statistics, the ability to create was limitless especially if you went Pro.
I found my enjoyment in making posters & research for that content which fit those posters. The first few weeks had always consisted of research & posters which kept me both busy & had a fulfilling effect on me since it gave me purpose and a clear drive to succeed at what I was doing.
Starting my third week with Hornbeam was one of the more exciting weeks because I would be taking the Mental Health First Aid 2 Day course with 5 other delegates. On the first day we would learn about the MHFA Plan or Mental Health First Aid Action Plan otherwise known as ALGEE, the effects of mental ill health & the mental health stress container. Following the first live session we would then go on to learn about what Depression is, the risk factors for Depression & first aid for it. We would finish Day 1 about the prevalence of Suicide & live session 2 covering what we had learned.
Often during the Live sessions held twice per day we would be given group activities to complete which not only promoted social wellbeing but encouraged to make connections with the other delegates. This had a unique impact on me because I was not very social before I landed this role, so interacting with the other delegates gave me social skills I lacked from the beginning and helped me become more confident about the course in its entirety.
Going into Day 2 was both an intense yet enlightening experience about Anxiety, first aid for Anxiety, what are eating disorders as well as learning about self-harm, how to recognise it & how to assist someone who is self-harming & learning about personality disorders. The experience was deepened further by learning about the topic of Psychosis, the risk factors around it & first aid to help a person with Psychosis. I personally felt that throughout the course my views on a lot of these were changed in their entirety, walking away with both a certificate but also a very changed mind with a better positive outlook on the world.
I would recommend the courses that Hornbeam provides, not only does it change your worldview & outlook on people, but it also helped boost my confidence and people skills, I have much better relations outside of work with both friends & family.
Thanks for reading
Joshua Wolf
Social Media & Support Administrator
Hornbeam Workplace Wellbeing