10 August 2025

Charlotte's mental health suffered whilst in a job, feeling overwhelmed at the intensity of the job she decided that her mental health was more of a priority. She wanted to find somewhere she could thrive in. Twining-Hestia made her see that this was possible. Here she tells us her story in her own words.

“I secured a job in an Islington school in November 2023, but it didn’t turn out as expected. It was fixed term though in the interview I was told my contract would be extended but then the cuts came around and non-permanent staff were let go. I really didn’t expect that it would come to an end. It was a shock. It was daunting. It had taken ages to find that job and now I was back to square one and that felt disheartening. After leaving the school in my attempt to secure another job quickly, I was happy to take on any type of work. This happened to be a job at a Haringey GP surgery. But I found the job overwhelming and really intense. I wasn’t able to have other hobbies in my life because of the intensity of this job and I felt the manager and team were too busy to accommodate me as a new starter. My mental health really suffered. After some thought I realised it wasn’t something I wanted to do, and my mental health was more of a priority. So, I decided to leave the role. I wanted to find something I could thrive in. Twining-Hestia helped me see that this was possible.

"I didn’t give up. All along the way, having Twining-Hestia support to keep going was so important to help me stay hopeful."

I started looking again for work. This time, I looked for specific roles in mental health, working with family and children. I was a lot clearer with myself on what I can commit to ensure it wouldn’t affect my mental health. It was up and down journey. Applying and doing application forms and not hearing anything back got quite disheartening.

I didn’t give up. All along the way, having Twining-Hestia support to keep going was so important to help me stay hopeful. 

I applied for a job last month in March 2025 working with Mind. I was immediately drawn to it; it was closer to what I wanted to do and close to where I live. The interview was difficult, but it allowed me to draw on my own lived experiences of mental health to answer the questions to the best of my abilities. 

"Anoushka helped me run through ideas on types of work I want to do and the types of different avenues to look for employment that suited me. It was definitely good to have another perspective – I was able to understand my mental health and how the issues I had affected me. It made me worry less about working."

And I got the job! I am now a Crisis Outreach Officer working with perinatal families. I can’t believe it! I have the job I’ve always wanted. I am a few days in, and I feel they are a nice team - friendly, quite young, all women. It’s a brand-new service. I feel excited about where this job will take me. It’s very interesting learning about how the service started and how I will be a part of making it come to life. The commute is good - I really appreciate working close to the home. I have a good relationship with my manager and feel good that I’ll be getting the training and the supervision support I need to do the role. I also feel I can approach my manager anytime if I need to talk especially about my wellbeing. I have seen how my manager interacts with other people, and I can see she is approachable and accommodating. So, I trust her in this.

I have had Twining support since Sept 2023. I feel like having Anoushka as my support system and on my side helped me stay motivated and determined especially when I gave up hope. Every time I would have a session with her, I would be reminded that looking for work is up and down but something will eventually come around for me. Anoushka helped me run through ideas on types of work I want to do and the types of different avenues to look for employment that suited me. It was definitely good to have another perspective – I was able to understand my mental health and how the issues I had affected me. It made me worry less about working. It was good to talk it through all of this with Anoushka.

Eventually, I was able to take more independent steps when I applied for the Crisis Outreach Role last month. I have become more comfortable with doing application forms – before I used to find them very overwhelming, whereas now I feel I have a system and this time, I was able to put in the application on my own! I actually feel proud of myself! It feels weird to say it – but I really do!”

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