There are celebrations at Birmingham’s My Time – employee Samra Kahriman has won the Trinity College London Building Life Skills through ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

My Time itself has also won the Learning for Health Project National Award.

Samra will receive her award at a reception in Leicester on 22 May and the company at reception in London on 20 May.

Samra came to the UK from Bosnia in 2010 with only basic English.  Today, she is fluent, has acquired five Level 2 National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) in courses including communication and business administration and is working at My Time as a floating support worker for vulnerable adults with long term mental health issues, having become a full time employee in May 2012.  She is also planning to undertake an NVQ in Health and Social Care.

“When I first arrived my English was not very good and I quickly became isolated and lost my confidence,” Samra explained.  “Thing began to change for me when I was given the chance to volunteer at My Time.  Everyone here has encouraged and supported me; my English improved, my confidence returned and I gained new skills and qualifications.  I’ve worked hard to justify their faith in me and I’m incredibly proud to be receiving this award.”

Established in 2002, Birmingham-based My Time is a social enterprise owned by the service-users that provides psycho-social-educational programmes and services for people experiencing depression, anxiety, low self esteem and mental health issues.

My Time works in 22 languages and offers women’s and men’s learning days with a wide range of formal and informal learning – often the first step towards further learning for many with little or no previous education.

“Learning and volunteering is a key part of each user’s therapeutic process at My Time,” explained chief executive Michael Lilley.  “Since 2002 we have welcomed over 8000 users, of whom over 500 have gone onto higher education and over 4000 have gone onto further education.  We’re delighted to have won this award; the recognition for the value we place on learning is very important to us.”

For more information contact Cathy Connan on 07976669089 or at cathy@cathyconnan.com.

My Time is a certified holder of the Social Enterprise Mark.