Mihai was referred to Only A Pavement Away in November 2022 and attended our Passport 2 Employment programme at Hilton Park Lane. Mihai had spent some time in prison and couldn’t find a job on release due to his past conviction. His confidence got greatly affected and he find himself facing homelessness while trying to keep supporting his family. At the beginning of the programme, Mihai was shy and didn’t interact much with our Learning & Development Coach, the employer or the rest of the graduates.
Workshop after workshop and with the support of our L&D coach and the employer, Mihai started to open and realise that there was maybe some hope for him to gain employment again. On day 5, Mihai was a different person, a lot more confident and grateful for the opportunity. He successfully got a job as a Waiter, a role he wouldn’t have imagined doing just 1 week before.
He started working part time to keep building his confidence, but has now switched to Full Time and has been praised several times by his employer. He expressed an interest in sharing his story and has been invited several times to speak with the new Passport 2 Employment graduates.
“Only A Pavement Away has helped me so much I still can’t quite believe it. My life has changed so much because of you guys. I thank you all so much for getting my life back on track. Sometimes I just pinch myself to make sure I am not dreaming this all up. I am so proud to now work at the Hilton Hotel Park Lane. I just feel so lucky to have met Only A Pavement Away, you all do such a great job!”
