Written By Ellie Leacy

António: Digital skills & Employability GRADUATE

TW: mentions of suicide & mental health conditions

António’s Journey to The Social Switch Project:

António was referred to our Digital Skills & Pre-Employability Programme via Ignite Trust.

He battled with mental health conditions from a young age. Around the time of his GCSEs he experienced immense stress, being the youngest in his family he felt pressured to meet the standards set by his siblings. He grew paranoid and suffered from auditory hallucinations, believing that people were talking about him and laughing at him. This stress gave António seizures and he sadly attempted suicide. As a result, he was sectioned under the mental health act and police took him into custody. He believes that he was treated like a criminal on that day which was damaging and hurtful to him.

António spent 2 years in and out of the hospital, diagnosed with Undifferentiated Schizophrenia and Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder. After seeing a therapist, he believes his life was saved. He wants to use his experiences to help people that are suffering from mental health conditions - and planned to use the Digital Skills & Pre-Employability Programme to improve his digital skills and ability to reach a wider audience.

Finding António Support:

As António was not in education and out of work for some time the programme gave him a chance to return to a routine and structure. It also provided the opportunity for him to meet and collaborate with young people from both similar backgrounds and different backgrounds.

Following his previous experiences with the education system we worked with António in the way that was most comfortable for him. He would arrive early every day and have a sit-down with us to check in on how he was doing mentally and offer him some insight into what the class would entail for that day.

As António graduated from the programme, the UK went into lockdown due to the covid-19 pandemic. He was keen to collaborate with others and work on projects, but being in a lockdown he was unable to partner with some. He built a good rapport with his careers coach, who worked with him to improve his CV, write effective cover letters, practice interview techniques, and develop job-searching skills. António was interested in roles in social action.

Using the momentum from the programme, António put his energy into a number of different ventures including re-enrolling back into his BSC Psychology with Cognitive Neuroscience, recording a mental health podcast, and designing a t-shirt with proceeds going to charity.

Outcomes:

Since graduating from the programme António has gone on to accomplish some incredible achievements. He is a Mental Health Activist and Anti-Racism Campaigner. António has given talks at various schools, universities, conferences, and workplaces including the University of Birmingham, the GDS youth summit, and more.

He is a media volunteer for the mental health charity Mind and advised BBC’s EastEnders on their schizophrenia storyline based on his lived experience. BBC 1Xtra featured him on the podcast If You Don’t Know to discuss this, and he has also joined the Prince and Princess of Wales for a discussion on mental health during a special episode of BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat.

In 2022 he won the Janey Antoniou Award, celebrating his campaigning work challenging stigma and creating change for people living with mental health conditions.

Find Out More

Ellie Leacy
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