Young stroke survivor goes from strength to strength at The Circle

Published

11th January 2019

Local community hub, The Circle, has taken on a new member of staff to handle bookings of their event and meeting rooms as well as scheduling training for the local community. Jennifer Gall joined The Circle team in November 2018 as Bookings and Training Administrator. This followed a year of working as a Junior Administrator for third sector consultancy, ACK, a role that was funded by Community Jobs Scotland.

Before her time with ACK, Jennifer had been unemployed for a number of months and had struggled to find employment. Jennifer had a stroke when she was 18 which left her with aphasia - an inability (or impaired ability) to understand or produce speech – as a result, some organisations that Jennifer had applied to work for doubted her abilities which made finding a job harder.

In November 2017 she was given the opportunity to work for ACK in a funded role through Community Jobs Scotland. During her time at ACK, which is based at The Circle, Jennifer not only developed her administrative skills, she grew in confidence. She was even invited to speak at the Stroke Assembly in front of around 100 people about her life as a stroke survivor.

Her role with ACK was only for a year but, as it turned out, Jennifer was exactly what The Circle team were looking for. With an increasing volume of bookings of their event and meeting spaces, The Circle was in need of a member of staff dedicated to handling bookings. Having seen Jennifer’s aptitude for administration and customer service, it was clear that she was the person for the job.

Jennifer has come into her own in her new role at The Circle.

“When my contract ended in November with ACK I was surprised and delighted to be offered a full-time contract by The Circle. My role as Booking and Training Administrator entails arranging use of our event spaces and managing refreshments for bookings as well as setting up training events. I have managed a variety of bookings from small meetings to large events for up to 80 people; no two days are the same at The Circle. I love my new role.

I feel really lucky to be given this position and hopefully I will gain more experience as my role grows. I am grateful to Community Jobs Scotland and ACK for the opportunity to learn and become more confident.”

The Circle Manager, Paul Hastie, has seen the benefit of having Jennifer at The Circle first hand.

“Jennifer has seamlessly become part of The Circle team, taking every challenge in her stride. Jennifer’s exemplary commitment to the job has seen our bookings for 2019 already filling up fast. Many of which are repeat bookings having received such excellent customer service from Jennifer.

The skills and experience Jennifer gained while with ACK through Community Jobs Scotland have proven invaluable to her new, full time role with The Circle. Community Jobs Scotland is giving people real opportunities to develop or kick start their careers and Jennifer is a prime example of this.”

The Circle

The Circle is an award winning 'More Than Profit' organisation that supports businesses to make a difference to communities by providing affordable consultancy, training and workspaces, within an inclusive and friendly community.

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