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KINESIS is Haga’s
work training service, where people with a history of drink and drug
misuse can gain vital support and the skills they need to get back into
employment. Here we catch up with three KINESIS clients to see how it’s
working for them.
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Andrea - ready for a job |
 Our first interview was held at The Faith Garden Centre in Tottenham, where many Kinesis clients have enjoyed placements. We spoke to Andrea, a current volunteer, about his experience of volunteering, the difference it has made to him and the prospect of working in his newly chosen industry.Andrea, tell us a little about the time before you came to Kinesis.
In 1998 I stared a restaurant business in Swiss Cottage with two other partners. It was successful in the first year, but then – due to differences in opinion and also because of a supermarket development right opposite, which contained 12 restaurants – our business folded in the year 2000.
Because I had invested so much money and effort into it I went into a deep depression. I basically spent the next five years in bed feeding my increasing heroin habit. At the end of these five years I contacted DASH*, who then referred me onto Kinesis.
Kinesis helped me to enrol on a horticultural course at Capel Manor College in Enfield. I did my course there and successfully achieved the diploma this year. I was placed here at The Faith Centre for work experience but have stayed on as I really, really enjoy it.
I started working here 3 days a week and have continued on a voluntary basis. So there’s no money in it – what are you getting out of it?
Lots of experience. That’s exactly what I was looking for, because I’d spent the last 25 years ‘stuck’ in the catering industry. It felt like being buried alive! Breathing other people’s smoke and constantly saying, “Yes sir, yes sir, no sir, no sir, it’s all my fault sir”.
The horticulture business allows me to be in contact with fresh air and “normal” people – the Faith Centre has taught me so many things you simply couldn’t get just by studying. The college was fantastic but this place gives me more of what I need, which is experience.
What do you plan for the next step?
My next step is to get a full time job. Susan at Kinesis told me to aim for a bigger commitment now that I’m capable of it. I’m looking for full time work and I expect to earn £15 an hour for the sort of work that I can do, much better than the £50 - £60 per week on the dole.
Susan introduced me to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau worker at Kinesis, who went through the figures and showed me how – even on minimum wage – I would be better off working than on benefits.
Was that a worry for you?
Yes, but I realised that it’s wrong to just sit at home getting older and older, watching TV and getting covered in cobwebs, when you can go out and get a job and earn a wage. You may be on minimum wage to start with, but you can build up to £8, £10 or £15 an hour jobs. Whichever way you look at it, you’re still better off working. |
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Julio - mentoring other clients |
 Julio has completed most of the training available at Kinesis, and now acts as a tutor and mentor for newer clients.Julio, what exactly have you been doing here this afternoon?
I was here as a volunteer, to help other people to achieve something through doing courses.Since I first came here I’ve done various courses, including the ECDL computing. Now I think it’s my turn to give something back to Kinesis.
Would you say the people you’re working with are complete beginners?
Well that’s how I started, so if I can do it they can do it for sure. All it takes is a little time.
Do people find it encouraging when you tell about your own learning?
The reactions I get are varied – some people are interested and I see that it gives them confidence. Everyone is different. The best aspect for me is to see their progress – how far they have come on since the last session.
What was your life like before you came to Kinesis?
It was very different. I had just stopped using drugs, and there was a big gap in my life. When you stop using after a very long time you can feel like you’re lost, sometimes it’s like you’ve stopped in a place and you don’t know in which direction to go from there.
I was stuck at home with the television, doing nothing, when DASH (Drug Advisory Service Haringey) told me about Kinesis. They explained the support and training I could get here and I agreed to be referred. At that point my main motive was that it was something to get me out of the house!
When I came here I was pretty impressed, I liked the environment and felt really welcomed by everyone here. I never looked back after I started here, and I’m still here now It’s giving my life direction and motivation. Now I know that I can achieve things I never would have imagined. I feel good inside. I’m not just a ‘junkie’ or a ‘nobody’, I can become something again, I can become part of society.
It can take time of course, but this is the feeling that Kinesis has given me, and I’m very grateful. I really think they are doing good work with people like me.
Have the courses you’ve done had positive effects in other areas of your life?
Well, the computer course went hand in hand with some major changes to do with my family. Basically, throughout the years I was using drugs they stopped talking to me, and eventually disowned me altogether. As far as they were concerned, if I came around it was only because I wanted money or something else.But the course gave me confidence. As I started to learn to use email I learned how to type, and how to actually communicate in writing.
I started email contact with my brother and then later my aunt, and they both could see that there had been some sort of change in me as a person, if only by the fact that I continued to maintain communication with them. Slowly, through emailing them and later video messenging when they could actually see my face, they saw that I was now healthy and not using. That helped me a lot to regain their trust.
It’s becoming great! I’m very close to my brother now, while three years ago I certainly wasn’t. They seem to accept me again now as the Julio they used to know, and that’s a good thing.I think that without the computing I’d still be in the dark and not able to communicate with my family. International phone calls are expensive, and I don’t express myself that well in letters, but this way works. It’s helped me with everything. |
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Christian's music workshops take off |
 Christian completed our PPD training and a voluntary placement, and has come back to tell us what he’s up to now.Have you found the training you got here helpful?
Yes, I remember explaining when I first came here that I needed to get the right direction in life, after all I had been through. Coming out of rehab left me unsure of where I was going next and I found that the PPD course was really good in helping me to assess my priorities.
One development was my realisation that I had transferable skills, which led me to train with Addaction and also to volunteer at MIND. It was a very different environment for me, but I was able to use skills I’d originally gained in the worlds of music and finance. That left me very confident in dealing with people and making decisions. In fact it was during the training at Addaction that I started to do what I really want to pursue now.
How did that come about?
It was chatting with Susan, the placement officer, that led to my 13 weeks of training at Addaction. Then I studied counselling and later volunteered at MIND, initially using the financial skills I already had.
They suggested that I start a music workshop for clients. In the beginning it was more of an entertainment, but has developed over the year into a therapeutic project. And how’s that going now?
My little workshop is expanding – I have gone into teaching and working with youth as well. I may now obtain funding to turn into something really big.
Christian will soon be in a position to accept Kinesis volunteers into his new project. |
