I joined Mustard Tree in October 2018, I found out about the place through my dad who had been coming to Mustard Tree from June. He felt like he had been enjoying it and support and thought it could be good for me.

Before I joined Mustard Tree I had broken up with my partner and this has resulted in time in court fighting for my son, who was going through the adoption process. Due to my ex partner’s mental health things had gotten difficult for us to care for him as I wasn’t in a suitable place to take care of him at that time. I was really struggling with depression and didn’t see the point in carrying on. This was because the court didn’t see me as a good enough option to be his parent which made me feel I had really let him down.

I really struggled to open up to anyone in my life, friends and family included and felt really isolated and lonely, I felt really ashamed of how things turned out. This ended up in me giving up working, as I didn’t see the point. I worked unsociable hours, and this made it even harder to spend time with people who could help me out.

I joined Mustard Tree with the hope that it would help my mental health, I felt comfortable straight away and like I wanted to talk to people, everything felt easy. Some people had been through what I was experiencing and so we felt equal and like I wasn’t being judged.

Day to day it is hard work for me as we meet so many people here from different walks of life, but the way regular people make it easy for me makes it much easier, I can joke with them, if I am struggling there is always someone I can talk to. I volunteer between the tills, the furniture sales and pricing up items in the warehouse. I like having a routine and that I have got new skills that I can take with me in life.

I would describe Mustard Tree as welcoming, friendly, always happy to help and if I didn’t have here I would have ended up heading down the wrong path, alcohol, drugs and maybe even criminal because of the area and my background. If you can’t get work where I am from that is what you end up doing.

Mustard Tree has made a big difference to my life, I can talk to anyone if I am struggling and I can help others now if they are struggling, I have got that experience now. I can find the ability to look on the bright side now.

My main goals are to work part time in the future, to help more people as much as I can. I see my son once a month, and I am trying to build a stable structure for myself with my own place, so I can appeal getting my son back. I cherish every minute I get to spend with him and feel I can get on better now with his mum after being at Mustard Tree.

Before I came to Mustard Tree I see now I was dead lazy and now basically I just want to improve every part of me and become a better me.