Former teacher finds her dream job helping people get back on their feet with the Wise Group

After years in the teaching profession, Lynn Patricks on was ready for a change … and when a job was advertised at the Wise Group, a UK social enterprise that supports 85,000 households each year to create positive change, it was a beacon calling Lynn home.

Now, she spends her days working with vulnerable people, who for a variety of reasons have found themselves let down by the system or struggling with life. And from helping them grow their confidence and taking baby steps, the results are transformational.

Lynn said: “I had been a teacher for many years, but it wasn’t the right fit any more. I wanted to make a real difference. I’d done that with the little ones, now I had a chance to make a difference in adults lives. “I get such job satisfaction every single day.”

And no two days are the same for a Wise Group Mentor; clients, or mentees, can self-refer to the Wise Group, but often are signposted on from other services, such as GPs, social prescribers, social workers or the DWP. Mentors offer professional support how and when people need it – for someone, that might just be help polishing up their CV. For others, it might be to gain the confidence to get back into education, get the medical or housing support they need, or even the confidence to navigate public transport, to give them back their freedom.

One of Lynn’s favourite success stories was working with a recovering alcoholic … he was proudly staying sober, but had become incredibly socially isolated, and lacking in confidence.

“We worked together for a while, until he grew in confidence, would travel independently and was engaging in things. Eventually he said to me that he felt his time as a mentee was over, he had got all he needed and wanted from us. Instead, he asked if he could become a volunteer with the group; it was lovely to see him develop.”

Wise Group Mentors come from a huge variety of backgrounds, and offer an entirely non-judgemental service that goes at the pace the mentees need.

Lynn said: “People can be very wary when they first come to us, they’ve maybe been let down before. We listen, and we go at their pace.

“Often people come to us thinking they want one thing but over the course of the sessions, which usually happen face to face, we end up somewhere else. What makes the Mentors a good fit as we are all very understanding; often we have our own lived experience of some of the situations people might be facing, so can really understand the challenges.”

One of the big things the Wise Group can do is help draw together services when clients have ‘fallen through the cracks”. This can include solving housing issues, getting people proper NHS follow-up care, laptops to help them join literacy classes and more, to help them live the life they want to live. Through support, guidance and empowerment, clients can see a real difference happening.

She added: “I get great job satisfaction from what I can do. It’s made me grow as a person. I was a teacher for many years and never thought I would do anything else, but I really wanted to make a difference, and that is the ethos of the Wise Group. I don’t regret it for a second.”

If you are aged 16 years and over and live in the Sunderland City Council area, The Wise Group may be able help you. Get in touch or find out more on the website