On tuesday in work based learning we looked at writing covering letters for our placements. I do have to admit to start with i did think it was a waste of time for me as without writing a good cover letter i would never have got my previous job or got to the high level i was at! Instead i turned it around when steph talked about using our 'graduate' skills to showcase what i can do or will do at some point! With putting the emphasis on these examples i now feel that when i can get back to doing a job or something more meaningful than just volunteering that i do at the moment i would have more confidence about getting all this across in covering letter.

I am really pleased with my first visit and happy that it is out of the way now. There were a lot of emotions to deal with and to try to convert that into something more empowering for them was quite hard. It is all about giving people back the courage to be able to deal with the issue themselves. Encouragement and support are the biggest key tools that i can use with them.
It was hard not to judge or to put my own personal view across but i feel i managed that successfully. I will be following up on this on monday to see how things are going and whether the phone calls i put in motiong will have any impact or help.
I have another follow up later today which in emotional terms is easier to deal with. I am happy that i can now finally put into practise what i have been trained on and also the skills that i have already accumulated through previous work history. I hope that i will have the option in the next coupld of months to go on further training to enable me to take on a wider range and harder cases.

I have now had 2 case referrals this week which i am quite pleased about. I will also be doing my first visit on friday which is a bit nerve racking but im sure once im there it will be easier than i thought. It is hard sometimes as you dont know what to say but have managed not to put my foot in it yet! I am quite enjoying doing this though as it is something different to any job or volunteering that i have done before. This really is one thing where you have to ignore your own feelings and also be able to not take any of it to heart, to do your job.
By the end of this week i will have clocked up a couple of hours volunteering but really need to take care that i dont get too excited about it and let it interfere with college work. It has been a bit draining this week.

Last October and November i carried out training at Middlemoor police station in order to join victim support. I spent 5 days at middlemoor undergoing rigorous training. I became accredited at the start of november and had my first case in december. It was only phone support and i spent half an hour in total over two weeks. I had further calls over exams but i chose to turn them down. I am now waiting for further referals.