Tom, accesses MAIN’s Adult Post Diagnostic Support Service in County Durham and has been on a journey the past year

I am Katherine and I have the pleasure to share Tom’s achievements. When I first spoke with Tom and his Mum in August 2023, Tom was on the start of his new adventure, he was due to start as an intern at Locomotion in Shildon. Tom was extremely nervous about the change to his routine but he was also very excited, as Locomotion is one of his favourite places to visit and the prospect of seeing the places that visitors were not allowed access to excited Tom even more. I think it is fair to say that Tom loves trains. Tom had been given a support worker to help him throughout the day alongside his time at Locomotion, Tom was expected to attend college.

The idea of college was very scary for Tom as again this would be a new routine for him, however, the taxi drivers had introduced themselves prior to the start of term and Tom knew the person he was due to share the taxi journey with so this had made things a little easier. All these little adjustments were exactly what Tom needed to help with his anxiety. At the start of the college term Tom was met at the taxi and aided into the college. After some time, Tom was expected to get out of the taxi himself and make his way to the meeting desk in reception, although this made Tom extremely anxious after the first few times he began to feel less so, little by little Tom was gaining his confidence. He even began to send little emails to his grandparents and other friends and family to help him gain even more new skills, this is a massive achievement as Tom admits that he does not really like computers.

Tom should be very proud of himself as he has achieved so much in such a short space of time and even though there have been a few bumps in the road, his new routine was beginning to work for him.

His time at Locomotion began by the organisers building Tom’s day up slowly, Tom began litter picking and cleaning and tidying the shelves in the gift shop, opportunities for helping on the trains began to appear and with the prospect of helping to polish the brasses and painting the trains came along with helping with the electrics on the trains as well.

Making sure the shop is clean and tidy

Fast forward to May 2024 and Tom has travelled home on the bus from his grandparents, independently. Tom is very proud of this achievement and so are his family. When Tom left school and college Mum had no idea what could be next for Tom, there was very few opportunities available to him at the age of 21 and Mum knew that she only wanted what was best for Tom so when the opportunity of the internship came about Mum could not have been happier. She has watched Tom thrive and grow into the amazing young man he is today. Tom has even started to problem solve for himself. Tom I will never again mention the iron brew in your college bag.

Quote from Tom – The best part of volunteering at Locomotion is that I love being here and being part of something where I can talk to people about trains which are a big part of my life and I can work in the shop and I also get to work on the trains

Tom standing near his favourite train 

We asked Locomotion for some feedback:-

We’re delighted that Tom has chosen to volunteer at Locomotion. It has been great to see him develop his confidence, skills and experience over his time with us, and we look forward to continuing to work with him into the future. Volunteering is vital to the visitor experience at Locomotion, and anyone wishing to find out more should please contact our volunteer manager.

I think we can speak on behalf of a lot of young people and their family’s accessing MAIN, that there are opportunities like those experienced by Tom, and we hope that this story empowers you to start your own journeys.

A note from Mum – “We are extremely proud of Tom, his achievements and the amazing progress he has made so far.  We are very grateful to Houghall and to MAIN for their tremendous support and to Tom’s colleagues at Locomotion, who continue to guide him and inspire him to reach his goals. They have made him feel so welcome and have given him the confidence to succeed.  We hope that Tom’s journey helps others to realise that they can fulfil their ambitions and have a positive and bright future “.