Becky was adopted as a child in Hong Kong, and grew up in a large family with 3 brothers and 4 sisters. Becky’s family relocated to London when she was 19, and she found it difficult to adjust to the culture.

She was born disabled and with learning difficulties. At the age of 35, Becky had undertaken some volunteer work in a retail environment but her shyness, lack of confidence, and lack of qualifications, prevented her from finding further volunteer placements or paid work. She felt that the Personal Best course would provide a comfortable environment in which she could learn new skills to help her find work that could also be applied in day to day life.

She wanted to develop more confidence and belief in herself, so she could achieve goals in her own right, and to apply this newfound confidence to find new avenues and processes to help her get back into a working environment. Becky also wanted to increase her independence, meet new people, and overcome her concerns about working within a team.

Becky learnt about the processes and potentials of volunteering; she had not realised that it was such a strong option before. She learnt to make her own choices, and voice her opinions, thanks to the confidence she gained from learning new skills.

Since November 2009, Becky has been volunteering with the 2012 Team at Surrey County Council, researching accommodation for Surrey’s 20 pre-Games training camp venues. The work she has done has been used to help the USA fencing team to consider a training camp in Surrey. Becky is proud that her local work has had such a big effect on another part of the world.

Becky has started to use her newly learnt skills in her everyday life, especially her people skills. She has gained more confidence in the workplace, and is able to raise concerns and ask questions more freely than she did at the start. Becky has built up a close relationship with her colleagues, and is able to talk about her life and confide with them. Her employed colleagues have reported that Becky’s presence has been like a ray of sunshine in their office, and she really feels like a member of their team.

Becky now catches the bus to work, and is able to carry out her tasks with minimal supervision. She hopes that at the time of the London Games in 2012 that she will be able to volunteer in her favourite sports of tennis and badminton.