Faaduma
“I am really proud of what I am doing and happy maybe for the first time in my life,” says Faaduma, who moved from being in a young offenders’ institution to training in Jamie Oliver’s prestigious restaurant ‘Fifteen’.
During her sentence, Faaduma started an NVQ in Customer Service in the staff canteen, but her supervisor noticed that she seemed very withdrawn, unable to smile or maintain eye contact. Work with the St Giles Trust revealed her previously undiagnosed dyslexia, which had given her low self-esteem and a feeling that she was incapable of learning, subsequently leading her to drop out of school.
But sessions, in which she worked on her interview technique and gradually learned to talk to people she did not know, helped her to overcome her fears and led to her acceptance on an apprenticeship at the restaurant.
“The NVQ has given me the confidence I needed to progress with my life in a positive way,” says Faaduma. “I received lots of support from my tutor and in prison in general. I don’t know and I don’t want to think of what would have happened to me without my NVQ and the confidence that I gained from it.”