“I wanted to change career to a role working with vulnerable people” – Think Ahead featured in the Evening Standard

Think Ahead participant Levi (pictured above) has been interviewed in the Evening Standard newspaper about why she chose to train to be a mental health social worker.

24-year-old Levi joined the Think Ahead programme in 2016, and is now one of our alumni. Before joining the programme she worked in recruitment for a pharmaceutical company. She said: “I wanted to change career to a role working with vulnerable people […] I found out about Think Ahead while searching online.

“Mental health social work is the unsung part of the social care system but it appealed to me as I would be supporting people in their darkest times.”

Levi now works in a Community Mental Health Team in London, where she supports people with a range of mental health problems, including psychosis, personality disorder and eating disorders.

She also talked about why social workers play such a vital role in mental health: “While many people think about mental health from a medical perspective, so many of the issues are social issues – benefits, relationships, housing – and the people I work with need to feel settled and safe with access to opportunities that will foster their long-term recovery.”

Think Ahead’s Recruitment Director, Ivan Wise, was also interviewed in the piece. He talked about what usually attracts people to apply to the Think Ahead programme, saying: “They want to be able to work closely with people who have severe mental health problems, and make a real difference to their lives.”

See the full Evening Standard article here (opens in new window).

Applications are now open to join Think Ahead’s 2019 Cohort. Find out more and apply now.