Olympian Efforts

I have been enjoying the Olympics and Paralympics very much this summer.  I’ll be one of those sad and bereft people when it’s all over – wondering what to do with my time in the evenings.  

 As I watched the Paralympic opening ceremony last week, I reflected on the number of countries represented there. Krishnan Guru-Murthy and John Snow were commentating.  It was educating as well as entertaining.  As the different national teams entered the stadium, we were reminded about which ones were war torn, experiencing political corruption or recent natural disaster.  All the countries and all of the participants were welcome.  We were also reminded that the Paralympics represents what people can do, not what they can’t – showing what’s possible. 

Last week, we received a visit from an old client of ours, Amir.  He’s from Somalia.  He has refugee status and has indefinite leave to remain in this country.  He, like Krishnan Guru Murthy, reminds us of places in the world where life is very tough.  Amir participated in our Trainee Scheme, helping to serve breakfasts in the morning for all of our clients.  As part of the scheme, clients also receive help and support to look for work.  In addition, staff from one of our company supporters - Veni Partners - run a recruitment workshop for clients every few months. Amir is now working full time maintaining our railways – an important role as many commuters will appreciate.  I really hope he does a good job and I’m sure he will. 

By coincidence, we also heard from another Trainee Scheme graduate.  Jack is British.  He spent some time in prison and had nowhere to go when he was released.  After sleeping rough, eventually he moved into a hostel.  Jack came to us for help because he wanted to get a job. He had already reflected a lot on things and wanted to make some changes in his life.  He wanted to become a support worker.  He knew that his criminal convictions would make this difficult for now but he wanted to do a job which made a difference. 

Jack got a job shortly afterwards with a sales company specialising in fundraising for charities.  He is delighted and he loves it.  When he came in to tell us he’d got the job, he looked so smart that staff initially didn’t recognise him.  He said “this time last year I was sleeping on the streets”.

Much has already been written in the media about the uniting effect the Olympics has had in GB.  Only a few weeks ago the nation was united in cheering on another Somalian refugee, Mo Farah.  We also cheered on Greg Rutherford, Jessica Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, Nicola Adams, David Weir, Hannah Cockcroft, Ellie Simmonds and so many more.  Apparently we've also been very sporting in our appreciation of athletes from all countries competing in the games.

Obviously both Amir and Jack have faced a very different set of challenges, trials and tribulations to Mo Farah and all of our other athletes.  However, for me the impact of their achievements is similar.  When you spend time getting to know people, finding out about their life, find out what problems they have to overcome, what their hopes and fears are, it’s very hard not to care.  Sports commentators help us to feel involved with the athletes by providing interviews, back stories, performance times, warnings about competitors and past injury problems.  It makes the joy of seeing a win and the disappointment of seeing a loss all the greater.

So that’s why I’m telling you about Amir and Jack.  They’ve done a fantastic job of overcoming their problems and moving on. It hasn’t always been easy.  We’ve all been doing the equivalent of cheering them on here and we are delighted that things are turning out well for them both.  We hope you can share a bit of our delight now too.

If you've loved the Olympics and Paralympics as much as I have, you might be interested to know that our clients have been busy with a project.  They've been looking at the impact of the Olympics on homeless people in the area.  Have a look at our Olympic Voices website http://www.olympicvoices.com/ to see what they found out.   

There will be a public exhibition of this project from 14th - 28th November at Rich Mix on Bethnal Green Road. http://www.richmix.org.uk/whats-on/event/providence-rows-olympic-voices/