Chapter 3

We meet some of the students and find out why they are signed up for the course.

Chapter 3 Getting Started

Recruiting a reliable assistant or right hand was the first task Rich knew he needed to do. He’d seeded the idea to several alpha students on previous courses, and needed to catch up with them to see if they were available. There was little time to advertise the post, and it didn’t pay very well. Rich liked using ex-students as examples of positive conclusions, and this served to endorse the message that the course had been, and could be, successful for the new students.

Rich went to visit Lisa. Last he knew, she volunteered at a recycling centre in an industrial unit. Her mobile phone was an unreliable means of communication, but Del the manager at the recycling centre would know if she was able to help out. Lisa had done a work-based placement at the recycling centre and liked it so much, she stayed on long after the course finished and continue helping out. The rounded, scruffy dressed centre manager with an unusual accent smiled as Rich approached.

“Hi Del, is Lisa about?” asked Rich.

“No, it’s good news I’m 'fraid,” he responded. Rich already knew what he meant by the somewhat strange statement.

“She got yon job she applied for, so she ain’t helpin' me or thee any more,” Del added. “I thought you be round when you started your new courses. How’s it going?” He was chewing and talking at the same time, very distracting.

“Ain’t even started yet,” Rich responded. “If anyone’s looking for some hard labour, I’ll send them over if it's okay,” Rich added, knowing Lisa had moved on.

“That’ll be right,” responded Del, who smiled again, he was then distracted by someone calling his name. Rich made his exit and continued his search.

In his car, Rich scrolled through the list of names in his telephone memory. Now he knew Lisa wasn’t available, he wanted to pick someone who’d best suit some of the community project activities he was about to embark on. As he scrolled through the list, and paused as it passed Juan.

“Great idea!” thought Rich, and he pressed the button to dial his number.

***************************************************************

Rich scampered along the main street trying to steal as much shelter from the buildings as he could from the light rain that welcomed the day. He knew he was early for his appointment, but he also knew he had a busy day ahead of him, trying to recruit people for the course. He booked appointments and drop-ins at several agencies over the next few days, but for now he had a single appointment with his first client. Juan wasn’t available until later that morning, so his first meeting was on his own. Rich was told Rob was a good-natured individual, who was keen to gain the experiences and qualifications that his course had to offer. All he knew was that he’d struggled at school, but wanted to start the course in the hope it would give him a better start in life. Rich arrived at the entrance to the Youth Employment Services Agency, aptly named ‘YESA’ as though it had a positive prospective to helping the younger generation with their job preparation.

The truth was that the agency was underfunded and the staff over worked. The employees were caring in nature, but the government tied them up with targets and analysis schedules. This burned time that they could’ve used better key-working their clients. Rich stopped off at the Coffee Mountain café on the way. The coffee was expensive, but it tasted better than the slick mud that was served up when he’d recruited, at YESA.

He waved discreetly at the staff through the window. They were busy turning on their computers and opening their diaries at their desks. They noticed him, and Rosie came forward to open the door glancing at the clock, aware it was about thirty seconds too early.

“You’ll get us in trouble, opening early!” said Rose, a rounded lady who had the air of someone’s mum and seemed to always have a favourite project she was working on. This was a client who had often failed with several of the other staff, but she was determined to help them find the future she felt they deserved.

“Morning,” greeted Rich, smiling at Rose. “Have you missed me?” he teased.

“Always,” responded Rose, pretending not to be sincere.

“I’ve an appointment with a young man called Rob,” announced Rich. “Have you heard if he’s still intending to come in?”

“He was in here on Friday, checking the appointment was still in the book. His appointment is at nine-fifteen. I expect he’ll be here by ten past,” assured Stuart, one of the other staff who was also peering into the diary. “You can use the interview room, it’s booked for you.” Rich thanked Stuart, and started to browse a rotating, metal leaflet rack to make sure his flyers were on display. He shuffled and re-organised some of the other agencies, so his was more prominent; they all did it, the staff pretended not to notice.

Soon, a security buzzer hummed as a young man and what appeared to be his mum walked into the agency building. Rich turned round to catch the sight of the prospective student, but then looked away respectfully, ensuring he had the flyer and enquiry card ready. The young man and his mum made their way to the reception desk. He didn’t want to be presumptuous and lunge forward to introduce himself, instead he allowed the lad to approach the staff so they could acknowledge his presence, and introduce him so they could start the interview. Using his peripheral vision, Rich tried to absorb as much information about Rob as he could before they met. He was blond, tall and had a baby face that was relatively good-looking. He had one of those smiles that made girls melt and other guys slightly jealous. From his nervousness around the staff, Rich guessed he probably hadn’t had much life experience. The staff spoke with Rob and his mum for a moment appearing to be checking his identity, and then walked them over to the interview room, where Rich was waiting in the doorway. Rich welcomed them to the interview, and asked them to take a seat.

“Hi, I’m Rich; I’m the course co-ordinator or tutor. It’s my job to put together a training course which will help you improve your team working skills, and at the same time help you to gain qualifications.” He drew a breath, glanced at Rob’s mum, and waited to read an acknowledging nod from Rob, before he continued.

“By taking part in some team building, an outward bound activity program, and participating in a work project of some kind, I'll be helping you to identify weaknesses in yourself you can improve on, strengths you can develop, and strengths in others you can learn from. If you join this course you’re going to take part in what has been a life changing experience for other people,” Rich looked earnestly into Rob's face as he spoke. The young man seemed genuinely hooked. Rich could be quite persuasive, but he was also selective with the words he chose. Rich then underlined his pitch with a warning.

“But it’s only life changing, if you want to change,” he added cautiously.

“I do,” replied Rob. “I‘ve found out a lot about your course, and I know Ralph from one of your previous groups.”

Rob's mum interrupted, “he’s doing really well and earns loads of money working at the warehouse. He said you got him the job> I hope Rob#s going to do the same because Ralph told Rob to trust you.” Rich hadn’t known that Rob was a friend of Ralph, but it was no surprise good stories about the course reached potential recruits, and Ralph (another one of his success stories) had secured a job, and was doing well.

“Well, if you have any questions you can ask Ralph,” mused Rich, “If you see him, can you tell him I said hi,” added Rich. “I think he left one of his jumpers in the classroom. Get him to drop by and he can have it back.”

“So, do you have any expectations?” Rich asked Rob, fishing to see what he’d heard about the course.

“I know you do, like, rafting and caving,” he replied. “But you won’t make me abseil. I hate heights.”

“I won’t make you do anything,” replied Rich. “But, keep an open mind to everything, because some strange things happen in this course.” Rich, Rob and his mum chatted for a while about some of details about the course. Rob’s mum felt he might struggle with reading and writing while doing coursework. Rich assured her there’d be support, but by its nature, the qualifications were not writing or spelling assessments. Rich left with a signed enquiry card, which he always felt was a positive sign that he had a safe bet for the course.

Author's Note

If you want to see more, other chapters have been uploaded to: http://authonomy.com/books/44469/tide-and-time-at-the-rock/
I'd appreciate your support on autonomy, it's reached 31 out of 7,800 books on the site and I need to push it that last few yards. (29/11/12 -Lenny)