Toni Kneale is a woman with a passion for the Runcorn community, and spending just five minutes with her you would understand why last year she was nominated for ‘Queen of Halton’ awards with the Fortuna Female Society.
Now working as a Supervisor at the Community Shop in Halton following support from Complete Skills Solutions, Toni says the support on offer was a “lifeline”.
Labelled a “daydreamer” at school, Toni tested a few careers after college, eventually going into self-employment setting up a community café known for her foraged and allotment grown ingredients.
As a lone parent, working for herself while caring for her son had suited Toni. But the gruelling 7 day a week lifestyle left Toni with little time for work/life balance and it became too much. Once Toni’s son was grown up, she knew it was time to move on, so sold the business to find her next adventure.
Finding it tough to find work, Toni took herself along to the Community Shop in Runcorn to seek support. She said:
“I came in to the shop to meet someone from Complete Skills Solutions and discussed how they could help me and signed up. I threw myself into personal development and thought right work on yourself, do some courses and the job will come.”
Toni signed up to complete a course in ‘An Introduction to Working in a Digital Contact Centre’ and another in ‘Cyber Security’ to refresh her skills and increase her employment pathways.
Having never before experienced being out of work, Toni admits that before starting the training she was struggling. She told us:
“It got me quite down, I’m a doer and I don’t sit still. I wasn’t dealing with it very well. I thought ‘Oh my God! Are there any jobs out there?’. It was quite emotional because you are applying for all these jobs and then the rejection letters come, and after two or three you start to think ‘is it me?’. It can be quite a daunting experience.”
Getting active through the Complete Skills Solutions courses helped Toni to rebuild her positive mindset.
“It was keeping my mind active,” said Toni, “having a purpose to get up every morning, and being online 10am-3pm. It was having something to focus on. And I do love working on my personal development. Just to refresh myself through learning after 10 years of self-employment, it was really good to do.”
Toni met with her Complete Skills Solutions contact, Leah, following the courses to discuss next steps, and that is when fate stepped in.
“I’d been sat with Leah from CSS at the Community Shop talking about what to do next. She knew I’d run the café and was interested in food and the community, and she said ‘there was a job in the kitchen here you know, you should have gone for that’.
That informal chat got me thinking and I went home and looked at opportunities at the Community Shop and saw that there was a supervisor job going. Because of the chat with Leah, it had given me more confidence. It was empowering, and I thought ‘I’m gonna apply’, so I did.”
And instead of a rejection letter, this time Toni received the acceptance she had been waiting for. And from her seven day a week slog, Toni now has some much needed work/life balance.
“Instead of working all the time, I get two days off a week, and I leave my job at the door when I go home. It’s great.
I’ve slotted into the shop but still see similar people to when I had the café and that’s what I wanted, to still feel part of the community. I’m very much a people person.”
Toni and the Community Shop could be described as match made in job heaven, and she describes the Community Shop and the wrap around support they offer through Complete Skills Solutions as “a lifeline for people”.
She says “It was a lifeline for me in that 3 months being out of work.
I think to myself, if I was that down after just a couple of months being unemployed, I can’t imagine how difficult it can be for some people who have been in that situation for a long time. They can come in, pick up a leaflet and find out about courses, and it is such a help.
Toni’s advice to others looking for support to get back into work is:
“Keep on going, it might seem like you are not getting anywhere, but there will be a breakthrough, you’ve got to keep trying. Put your time into something constructive, like doing courses.”
If like Toni you would like to explore learning opportunities to build your confidence and skills to improve your employability, check out the full range of courses available through Complete Skills Solutions
