We Love The News - reader Charlene tells how The News helped her to help others find work
BEING featured in The News has helped Charlene Maines get her charity registered – and in turn enabled her to help scores of other people going through tough times.
Charlene, 36, from Rowlands Castle, has used her personal experiences of hardship, single parenting, benefits and unemployment to set up charity Choices For You.
Her journey began when she escaped domestic abuse in 2010 and moved to Leigh Park with her two children, Taylor and Millie, now 14 and 12. Faced with starting from scratch, she found herself on benefits and searching for work.
After finding work experience as a mortgage broker, she was just about to take on paid work when her son had a foot operation and needed three months off school, and then he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, an inherited disorder that affects connective tissue, which Charlene was also then diagnosed with.
She said: ‘I was struggling to understand the two diagnoses, I had no money, and there was pressure for me to get a job, so after a few down days I pulled myself together.
‘When I did, I realised that there are lots of other people struggling behind closed doors. I wanted to help people and that’s how the charity began.’
Charlene was helped by the Prince's Trust and she managed to secure full-time work, and is now studying for a degree in business management and leadership.
She started Choices For You in a bid to help people find support and advice on unemployment issues. Over the past few years she has held events to allow others to share their stories – and these have been covered by The News.
Last month, she was delighted to see her hard work pay off as Choices For You was officially registered as a charity meaning it can now apply for funding, build further relationships with businesses and expand.
Charlene said: ‘I’d never have been able to afford advertising for my events, but by them being covered in The News, that meant more people have reached out to me for support. I have been able to put victims of domestic abuse in touch with support. It is really important that papers like The News give people like me the opportunity to get their message out there, as that helps others.
‘I pay my online subscription to The News as my way of saying thanks.’