Community Links Worker (CLW) Tommy’s story

“Our role is to find out what matters, what are the challenges they are facing and give them the courage to engage with support."

I had only been in post for three months when the COVID pandemic hit and lockdown was announced. The first few months I concentrated on getting to know people, networking in the local area and trying to learn what support and services were available in the local community. But we had to rethink the way we did things during lockdown and look for new ways to keep in touch with the people we worked with.

Our role is to walk alongside the people referred to us, to find out what matters to them, what are the challenges they are facing and give them the courage to engage with support and services that can help them. I can easily fill someone’s week with things to do but it’s not about me, it needs to come from them.

We have a lot of people coming to us with anxiety and mental health concerns. When we first meet with them, they are managing it with medication and one of the first things I work with them is on what else they can do in partnership with their medication. Together, we look at their nutrition, sleep, exercise, their relationships, finances and housing, to see where they can make changes and where they are willing to make these changes. They sometimes don’t realise that there are other things they can be doing until we sit down and talk about it. Structure, routine and sleep are so crucial to our wellbeing and there can be simple changes that make such a huge difference to people’s lives. I always talk about the things that they have control over and rather than looking for one big fix, it’s about breaking it down into manageable pieces. A lot of the time it is also about people acknowledging their challenges and if they are willing to make the effort, they get more out of the services we link them with.

I am an advocate for people getting into education and enrolling in courses, at Open University for example, or doing voluntary work. It is a great thing to showcase when they are looking to get back into work. I always advise them to do something they enjoy and something they find interesting. The library is also a great resource in the community. They can attend groups and classes, they can borrow DVDs as well as books and they can use the computers. It is a safe space, it gets them out of the house and gives them a change of scenery. It is often the small things, or a series of seemingly small things, that make a huge difference to people’s lives.

We are lucky in our role that we have time to talk to participants and we don’t have to hurry them. Sometimes it can take them a few sessions to open up, and we might only really get into it months down the line but other times they come in and share it all. On some occasions there is something that has been bubbling under that they don’t want to divulge straight away so a lot of it is about relationship building. I set up a male bereavement group, giving men the space to share their stories and experiences, to look at the grief process and to get support from others in a similar position. It was an important group to establish and was well received in the local area.

Housing is a common concern we are also seeing at the moment, it is in a critical condition across the city. There are a variety of reasons for housing issues – people fleeing domestic violence, unsuitable housing, or unsafe conditions are only a few – and the system is hard to navigate. The forms are online and they don’t provide paper copies so we often have to talk people through the process and guide them through the steps. After that it is down to their housing officer and the local association to hopefully find them a suitable place to live.

Community Link Workers are not a destination service, we are there to work alongside people in the community, to signpost them to support and services that are available. It is not always about finding a solution, it is sometimes just about being there for them. Managing the small things can often have a positive domino affect into other areas of their lives and we are there to help them get started.

Tommy’s story is part of the latest Humans of Scotland publication – Community Links Worker Edition. The book is available to read here.

Read all Humans of Scotland stories here.

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