Meet Ndjoli Marie

Ndjoli Marie, 36, currently works as a cleaner – but the hours are sporadic. She has four children, and came to The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus Local in Hoxton to try to find more secure work to help her financial situation.

In May, Ndjoli Marie, from Edmonton Green, attended a course provided by Goals UK at The Salvation Army, which aims to encourage confidence, improve well being, and empower people to make changes that can help them move forward.

The course can help people identify the barriers they have to employment so they can be addressed. Ndjoli Marie says the course was invaluable and she is due to start work as a nanny in September.

She said: “The course has really helped me to be confident when doing job interviews. Before when I have been interviewed I wasn’t confident enough. I was shy to talk to people at an interview. Now I feel very confident to go to an interview and talk to people who have been doing the job for 15 years.”

Ndjoli currently volunteers at her children’s school, and is looking to start a course in social work. She hopes to get a job at a school or in social care, so she can use the skills she already has through her current employment and volunteering experience.

“As a mum of four I have always wanted to work with children. The course through The Salvation Army has motivated me to eventually open my own nursery, and to have the confidence that I can do more than I thought possible.”