Julie was referred to MPT through the Council’s financial inclusion team, suffering with severe anxiety and depression due to the loss of her husband two years ago and more recently, her Father. She wasn’t in a good place with regards to her wellbeing and was experiencing low feelings of self – esteem, confidence, motivation and had no real sense of direction or purpose.

Julie was also struggling with her day to day finances, which contributed a great deal to her increased levels of stress and depression. She wanted to get back into employment but didn’t know where to start or who to turn to for some support.

After her initial assessment with MPT, it was established that Julie needed help with rebuilding her confidence, motivation and combatting social isolation. Julie had also been out of work for a while and was worried that the gaps in employment would be an issue. After an initial meeting with her MPT mentor, an action plan was drafted and agreed to prioritise Julie’s needs according to her barriers. One to one sessions were held regularly to: encourage and provide support, help with applying for work, build and develop personal resilience and hold mock interviews to help build confidence in approaching the employment market. Julie also had a referral to the Active West Lancs Active gym/weight management programme again to help with her motivation, physical & mental health and social integration.

After being supported by MPT Julie was successful in getting a job as a customer service advisor with a local business. She also felt much more confident within herself after completing the gym and weight management program which resulted in her losing half a stone. She has continued to regularly attend the gym and through her attendance has begun to expand her social network. Julie now feels through these interventions, she is in a better position to be able to manage her mental well-being, has improved her financial situation and is beginning to enjoy her life again!

A family was referred into MPT after struggling to manage with the overcrowding in a 2 bed house with 5 adults occupying. The financial implications of this were also having a negative effect on the household as no one in the house worked and only one adult claimed any type of benefit.

The family were in desperate need of some intervention to help them alleviate the overcrowding and to enable the adults in the house of working age to become self-sufficient. The family also faced multiple barriers to employment, particularly around the impact of their circumstances at home, very low levels of; expectation, confidence, self-esteem, motivation and direction. The MPT team individually signed up each of the household members onto the project and began to appraise the circumstances of each.

A number of immediate actions were then taken:

  • Help and assistance to sign up for Universal Credit and understand the benefits system
  • Two household members signed up for and IT course.
  • 3 referrals onto the Active Lives programme
  • CV’s updated and help with job searching, interview techniques / questions

After further development and income starting to come into the house, the MPT team continued to work with the house to achieve the following results:

  • One household member got a full time job at Iceland and is now helping to contribute to the household bills.
  • Another is attending CBT sessions to address her anxiety and attending ‘Active Weight’ sessions through the GP Referral scheme and rebuilding her self-confidence
  • Applied and successfully obtained a level 2 apprenticeship in carpentry for another household member
  • The MPT team has also helped two of the household register on the allocations system as joint applicants and begin searching for a property to lessen the impact of overcrowding at the family home.

Marie, a family member, says:

“More Positive Together has really helped our family to get back on our feet. We still have a way to go, but the help, advice and support we have received has been really appreciated and helped us to understand where we need to focus our efforts. We have especially welcomed the help with understanding the benefits system, job applications and having someone we can trust to turn to for advice and support. We are still working closely with the mentor, but would highly recommend More Positive Together to anyone else who needs support to improve their confidence, self-esteem or is looking to get back into work”