September 2007

Valley Transitionz blasts off into cyberspace!


The Internet is an amazing tool. You used to be able to look up history, music, art; anything you want except for one thing, Valley Transitionz, but that has now changed because you're now looking at the brand new Valley Transitionz website. 

Building a website isn’t an easy task especially if you’re working with a web building programme for the first time and this is where the long hours of frustration kick in and after 2 hours of trying to build up the site, it looked worse than ever. However, I started to get the hang of it and finally success!

At times I may have wanted to give up this site building task but after a while I realized that this is a very important thing for VT in terms of growth and I felt that I needed to try as hard as I could to stick with it, not only for VT but for myself as it’s helped me broaden my skills and I’ve learned something new that can hopefully be used again in the near future.

It’s still in its infancy stage (There’s still quite a lot to look at on the site though) but over time it’ll grow into something that’ll play a big part into helping promote VT and their services to mental health consumers and maybe even potential employers.

So get your fingers tapping and look around the new VT site. You know you want to.

By Peter Hall

 


My story by David Stuart

P10104909.JPG

I began in the volunteer hospitality team at Take 5 on a Monday morning, three and a half years ago. Back then, I had zero confidence in my ability to work or hold down a job. On a Monday morning I worked as a volunteer and was initially given a very small task of chopping vegetables and stirring a pot of rice. I was very hesitant at first slowly as I gained confidence skills I undertook other tasks.

After working in a very supportive team environment, I gained a belief that I had something to contribute to the community. After helping with the cooking for about two and a half years, I started serving coffee and tea in the front of Take 5. This required me to work more independently and take more initiative. In this job, which I am still doing now, I have to make sure the hot water urn is full and that there isn’t too much mess on the coffee and tea tray. It is a job where I am serving my fellow consumers and that is why I like it.
 
Six months ago, I started to work, also as a volunteer in the Valley Transitionz marketing team. I have a marketing degree from University, so it is good that I am using my qualification to promote an organization that I thoroughly believe in. In the marketing team, we have produced newsletters and helped create a website. We also redesigned the consumer’s brochure which is now available in all Work and Income offices and Citizens Advice Bureau. This is how most consumers become aware of the Valley Transitionz programme

I still struggle with paranoia, but I am slowly overcoming it. I am slowly gaining more confidence and I have a long term goal of being able to work part time in a VT job placement. I am slowly gaining strength to be able to work in a less supportive environment.

Valley Transitionz has overall helped me to believe in myself and I thoroughly believe in Valley Transitionz’s ability to change people’s lives.
About our company
Enter a succinct description of your company here		 Contact Us
Enter your company contact details here

Our Vision:

Valley Transitionz aims to help individuals who have had the experience of mental illness back into employment.  This is done within a supportive framework using a gradual stepping stone approach.

Contact Us:

04 560 3165

valleytransitionz@gmail.com