A warm, engaging man with experience of working in a supportive context in the mental health field.

Sensitive, calm, patient, responsible and open.

Personal Support Assistant, Look Ahead Housing and Care, 2011-present

Providing part time support to customers of Look Ahead Housing and Care.



Mental Health Helpline Volunteer, SANE, London, 2009-present

Providing out of hours emotional support to anyone affected by mental illness. Many of the callers are suffering from acute depression, experiencing psychosis, suicidal feelings, or self- harming behaviour. Calls range from service users and carers to parents, family and friends. Training for the role involved group role-plays, written work about mental illness, discrimination and awareness of the mental health system, medications and treatments. Regular supervision contributes to ongoing development in handling calls and own emotional resilience. The use of a database to search and find local contacts and information for callers.



Helpline Volunteer, London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard, London, 2010-present

Providing emotional support to anyone experiencing difficulties with their sexuality, including relationship problems, self-acceptance, bullying and discussing sexual health and experiences of dealing with HIV. Other aspects of the role involve signposting callers to appropriate services as well as providing local information of groups, events and venues.



Visual Effects Artist, Sky Creative Services, London, 2004-2007

Modelled and animated using 3D animation software 3D Studio Max and Softimage XSI to produce moving game elements, graphics and interfaces for interactive television games and stings and interstitials for Sky Sports. Used Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and After Effects to prepare visuals, textures and composite video elements.



Interactive TV Application Tester, Sky Interactive Operations, London, 2000-2004

Designing test scripts and testing of games, shopping, travel and banking services, communicating report results to developers, project managers, business owners and clients. Managing testing schedules to deadlines of launch dates.

BSc Psychology, Birkbeck, University of London, 2010-present

Currently attending lectures on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings. Available during working hours for part-time work.



Access to Social Science, Morley College, London, 2009-2010

Studied Psychology, Sociology, Journalism, Study Skills, Maths and Statistics. Assessed by written assignments, presentations and examinations. This course was taken as preparation for studying a BSc Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London in October 2010.



NVQ in Mental Health Awareness and Telephone Support Skills, SANE, London, 2009-present

Written assessment provides evidence of an understanding of mental health problems, medications, treatments and the mental health system. Supervised observation and reflection provide evidence for the use of active listening skills to emotionally support distressed or suicidal callers and managing challenging and difficult calls.

Active Listening, demonstrating empathy without judgement.

Remaining calm during challenging interactions.

Creative and sensitive, interested in supporting others to find solutions to challenging problems.

Emotionally resilient. Welcomes sensitive feedback. Appreciates honesty.

Computer literate. Retrieving and recording information on a database.

Communicating information clearly.