Sheridan Wray

Shez came to Stride Yorkshire in August of 2023, struggling with lack of confidence due to issues with social life, employment, and independent daily living. Shez had been in a bad relationship leading to poor mental health, this in combination with his Autism and ADHD led to barriers in his personal and professional life.

Shez felt that he had never been supported in a way that works for him, and his mum called Logan feeling deflated, after trying to do the best for her son for many years.

Within a month, Stride helped Shez to get started in a kitchen job, where he built up his confidence with people again. Shez received job coaching support, and coping strategies support, all contributing to him feeling more positive, and motivated. The coping strategies support were particularly helpful. They helped him to not only identify and overcome barriers in the workplace, but also helped him to navigate his living situation. Now Shez is better able to build relationship’s with support staff and communicate his needs more effectively.

Kitchen work was never Shez’s long term goal, but it was a start. After a length of time in this job, Logan decided to give Shez the chance to actually work for Stride Yorkshire, as a digital content creator. Shez was over the moon with this opportunity. Shez still works for Stride whilst receiving all the support he needs every day he works.

Shez had the following to say:

‘‘As a long time client and now a new member of staff I can confidently say that the team at stride are amazing people and I’m happy to be a new member of the team myself, they have helped me so much in the past and can’t believe I’ve been lucky enough to be brought on to further help people just like me.’’

Thank you Shez, it’s a pleasure to have you on the team, and be involved in your support!

What has really stood out to me, compared to other support services is they genuinely care. It's not just a job. they're passionate about making a difference and didn't give up on me, even at low times, when I'd lost faith in myself. I will be forever grateful that stride became involved in my care and grateful to all stride workers, but especially Logan for the dedication and genuinely caring.

Dan

I was very sceptical about starting my work with Stride, I struggled to trust professionals after past experiences. I can’t begin to list the ways that Stride have helped me, I feel like my life is back on track, and I know that I have all the support needed to get me to where I need to go in life. University finally feels like it might be a realistic goal. I am so grateful for everything!

Brandon

I have had the pleasure of working with Stride Yorkshire in my journey to becoming a more inclusive employer. I knew I wanted to give adults with Autism a chance at working but was worried about my ability to support them. I was fearful of saying the wrong things, how they may manage criticism etc. Stride placed two fantastic candidates in my workplace as admin assistants, and I felt supported through the entire process, the job coaching was amazing, they took the pressure off massively from an employer’s perspective. By the time the support from Stride had finished, our eyes had been opened to the hidden ABILITIES of adults with social and learning conditions, both candidates had their own strengths, and struggles (which we knew how to support). If you are considering becoming more inclusive, and giving somebody a chance that might otherwise be overlooked, I would urge you to get in contact with Stride!

Dot – Trador Print Ltd

I’ve been coming to Stride for the past couple of months and have been in the care of Logan. I’m autistic and since I left school, I’ve been lost, I don’t know what I want to do with myself, job wise and career wise, I failed in college I’ve been suffering with mental health including intrusive and obsessive thoughts brought upon by pure O, along with anxiety and depression and I didn’t have any friends after being rejected and bullied by peers time and time again. It’s been a struggle, but since I’ve been having my meetings with Logan weekly, he’s really helped me, I’m already seeing a difference, he is someone I can talk to about my mental health and help me in my recovery journey, he’s helping me come up with ideas for what kind of job I’d like and he’s introduced me to people I have common ground with and have developed friendships with. We’ve done a lot in a short time and we’ve only just begun, I feel like I’ve got a long way to go in my mental health recovery journey yet, but if anyone’s gonna get me there, it’s Logan.

Adam