Lynn Cartwright
Lynn, who has learning difficulties, left school at 16 and got a job as a kitchen assistant in a factory canteen. When this closed down, she eventually became a kitchen assistant in Woolworths’ café where she worked for 21 years. After leaving there, Lynn was unable to get another permanent job and decided to try to get some computer skills to enable her to search for work.
“When Lynn first came to the UK Online First Steps Project at the Learning and Information Library [in 2007], she was so nervous that she brought her mum along”, nominator Sally-Anne McIntyre remembers. “Since then her confidence has improved greatly… Her confidence is such that she works independently with minimal staff support”.
Lynn has spent her time learning how to use a computer, particularly the internet, which she uses regularly – visiting job sites, practising online form-filling and CV writing – in order to achieve her goal of learning how to look for information to find a job.
She has taken advantage of the UK Online journey to access information, advice and guidance through the project’s Learning and Work Adviser – who helped Lynn arrange a course to upgrade her food and safety certificate. As a result, Lynn has recently started a temporary job as a kitchen assistant.