"I’m not just a number. I’m a mother. I’m a trainer. I’m a dedicated worker. My dream is to create a better life for my kids. I had been with another agency looking for work; to them I was a number. Whereas Tomorrow’s People were interested in me, they cared, it made me feel good! It was ‘let’s get your confidence up, let’s get your CV ready’. I’d been working since I was about 15. I got pregnant when I was 21. I had two babies in just over a year, and a few years break from work. That’s when I went to Tomorrow’s People. They were very good, they cared about us. Because the group was so small, they had time to get to know us and find out what we wanted individually.
I started a cleaning job that I could fit around the children. It felt good to be back at work, to have that independence, to say I had money in my pocket. Anne, who’s the Training Director for the London Cleaning Academy, saw something in me, she gave me the chance to become a trainer. The first time I did a training session was terrifying, I was sweating and shaking, but my confidence grew, and now I hold training sessions for 30 people, all the different personalities - the loud ones, the quiet ones. It’s nice to wake up and know that today I could get one person back into work. The opportunity that Anne and Tomorrow’s People gave me, I can give someone else.
My dream is to make a better life for my children. And now I can see that better future. I’ve got a job, I’m on that career ladder and the only way is up."
Portrait // Hayley, Brixton, London. 27.