Spotlight Series – Dan

‘I just enjoy what I’m doing now, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.’ 

Dan’s journey with Minstead Trust has taken him from brewing coffee to building confidence. Over the past three years, he has completed a two-year apprenticeship, gained new qualifications, and grown in independence. We spoke to Dan about what he has learned, what he enjoys, and what he hopes comes next. 

Lily & Lime 

‘I started [coming to Minstead Trust] in 2023 – March, I think it was. I went straight into Lily & Lime. I learnt how to be a barista, how to use the coffee machine, and how to prep food.  

‘It was a customer service apprenticeship, so they helped me to gain other qualifications along the way. So, I had no English qualifications at all, and within those two years I got a very high-grade English qualification, so I was pretty happy about that. My favourite thing about the apprenticeship was teaching the people we support how to use the equipment.’ 

Warren Avenue 

‘After I finished my apprenticeship, I was offered a role here [at Warren Avenue] and I’ve been here ever since. I’m now a volunteer admin assistant. I work on Fridays at the moment and hoping to increase my days. Usually I do stuff like scanning, shredding, and data entry. Hopefully I will be learning how to use the phones soon, so that will be interesting. 

‘I had to learn the majority of things from here to be able to be where I am today. I can use the printer and scanner easily now, whereas before I had no idea what I was doing.’ 

The Future 

When asked if admin is what Dan would like to do as a job, he said ‘oh yeah, definitely, I enjoy it. I enjoy the fact that it’s a nice quiet environment, so you don’t have to really worry about any loud noises or anything too practical, especially in the summer. 

‘I’m looking into moving out at some point, so that’s going to be the next step. That’ll be good for me, I think, to have a bit more independence and see where it goes from there.’ 

Independence 

We asked Dan if his apprenticeship and volunteer work experience has helped his independence.  

‘I’d say they have, because to get to the civic offices [for his apprenticeship], I had to get to the train station, so I had to learn how to use the trains. When I came here, I had to learn to use the bus. That was a big task because buses and trains are completely different set ups. 

‘I did travel training with Jamie [support worker] when we were both at Lily & Lime. She taught me how to use the trains, and then when I came here, she taught me how to use the bus.’ 

Dan now comes to work via public transport completely independently via train and bus, and said ‘It’s about an hour’s journey in total to get here, but it’s worth it – I enjoy what I do.’