DVJS Employer Newsletter Autumn 2017 | Page 6

STEVEN WHOLESALE PLANTS DIRECT Steven is a young man of 24 who has had to endure some tough personal problems to get through to where he is right now. He currently lives with his sister and still deeply misses his mum whom he lost only a few short years ago. Steven was pretty close to his mum and she used to join him in many appointments before she got very ill. When Steven’s mum passed away, he was understandably distraught and decided to take a “leave of absence” from job search in order to grieve. Steven has autism, but much more striking is how keen he is to work and the way natural friendly leads him to befriending the people he meets almost immediately. The young man is a thoughtful person whose outlook of work is that of pride. When he did secure that job at Wholesale Plants Direct as a nursery hand, he was proud and eager to tell his family that he finally secured work and can be of help to them! He however postponed telling his family the good news for a week just to make sure it was real and it was ongoing. Getting to work and contribute in a way he was proud of was just too good to be true! When his employer Nigel Read met Steven, he was astounded with the amount of enthusiasm he has for work. In fact Steven tried to do all the hours of his work trial without a break under a 30+ degree heat! Nigel stepped in to make su