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AddmySupport - Support Stories
James - 39 - Brittany, France - Leaves DIY projects unfinished!
With so much going on James just didn’t have time to finish the DIY jobs he had started. There were still cupboard doors to do in the kitchen, painting in the living room and tiling in the bathroom.
By creating a list of projects on AddmySupport, James was able to get his projects organised and by setting up Support Requests he found recommended local professionals to help finish the work in the bathroom and kitchen.
Whenhe came to decorate the living room he asked if anyone in his network could help him and he quickly received lots of offers of help.
Once the decorating was complete James used AddmySupport to send his friend a thank you gift and an IOU that his friend could use when he needed James’ help.
Sam - 15 – Middlesex - Wants to get better at cricket
Sam likes cricket but wants to improve. He started by setting up his own support page and instantly received a Cricket Starter Pack, which contained books, DVDs, clothing, shoes and equipment recommendations.
Next he invited everyone he knew who was interested in cricket and soon had 12 people in his support team. Sam added some of his own cricket video clips and asked his support team for feedback. After watching Sam’s videos one of his support team put him in contact with a former professional cricketer, who gave Sam some really useful advice about his batting.
Another member of his support team arranged for Sam to come and watch England play at Lords. After the match Sam got to meet some of the players. This experience inspired Sam to practice even harder. But without having anyone to practice with he turned to his support team again. Two people offered to bowl at Sam once a week and he was able to practise his batting in his local cricket net.
With his support team backing him up, Sam’s batting got better and better, and at the weekend he opened the batting for his local first team.
Jermain is a great hairdresser and has won awards for his work. Recently Jermain decided he wanted to set up his own firm, but he wasn’t sure how to go about setting up your own business.
He began by joining the business network and then created his own support page. He ordered a Business Starter Pack and this helped him understand exactly what was needed and with some help from some simple recommended software he created his own business plan.
Next he asked his support network for help and a few people offered their support. His dad’s friend had already set up his own business and he offered to mentor Jermain. This was great and gave Jermain someone to turn to and answer his questions.
Finally he needed to find someone to back his business so he made a Support Request for financial help. No one in his network could help so he added his request to the Investment Network and quickly found a local investor.
He now runs his own successful hairdressing business and has won awards for his business skill as well as his haircuts!
Naomi - 31 - first time mum
Naomi has faced a huge mix of emotions over the past three years. Her mother died suddenly only a month before Naomi learned she was expecting her first baby. Baby Holly is now two and brings a huge amount of happiness but Naomi does miss having her mum around for practical and emotional support.
Mums in her baby group and online forums offer advice but they have their own problems and only listen with half an ear. Through AddmySupport she has been able to find help across the generations and has connected with Helen, who acts as a virtual granny to Holly.
Helen is always ready to listen when an exhausted Naomi doesn't know who else to turn to. She keeps a private support page for Naomi where she can upload useful information from parenting websites as well as some of her own granny wisdom. The little tip that babies often tug their ear when they're teething stopped Naomi worrying that Holly might have an infection.
"My friends are fantastic in the good times, but Helen is my rock on the difficult days," says Naomi. "I don't feel guilty asking her for help because I know she gets a lot back from helping Holly and me."
Dave - 33 - Boston, USA - Always wanted to moonwalk
Dave admits he’s one of those people who dances like a “drunk uncle at a wedding.” But with his own wedding coming up he decided to surprise everyone by learning to dance.
He started with his own “learn to dance” support page and immediately got some recommendations from AddmySupport. He watched a few of the moonwalk videos and read a couple of guides. Using the task planner he scheduled a daily reminder to make him practise and connected with someone else for mutual support.
By the time of his wedding Dave was moving like Michael Jackson and surprised everyone with his new dance floor skills.
Dave’s now added Moon Walking to his list of skills on AddmySupport and whenever he can, he helps others who are trying to learn to dance.
Jane - 41 - Aberdeen - Single working mum, just moved to a new area
Having just accepted a new teaching job, Jane moved to a new area where she didn’t know many people. With three kids under the age of ten, Jane has very little time for herself or any socialising.
Jane joined her local help and support network, through AddmySupport, and soon made some good connections. Another mum offered to show her around and introduced her to a few of the other parents.
AddmySupport gave Jane a simple way to meet others and an easy way to ask for help, so even when moving to a new area she never felt alone. When Jane is busy she knows she can ask her support network for help, and she uses her teaching skills to offer her support to others in her network whenever she gets the chance.
Peter - 55 - London - Wants to give something back
With two successful businesses behind him Peter is now enjoying a happy family life in his retirement, but doesn’t want his experiences to go to waste.
Peter joined AddmySupport to give himself a way to mentor young people, especially those like him who had come from a difficult background.
“If I can help someone get their life back on track, help them learn a skill or get them into a decent job or training course then I think that will be time well spent.”
Peter is helping mentor two young people and makes sure he meets them at least once month in person as well as always being available through AddmySupport whenever they ask for help. So far he has helped them improve their college attendance, prepare for important examinations, budget their spending and arranged a work experience placement at one of his old businesses.
Kate - 37 – Sydney, Australia - Great at writing, terrible with technology
Kate has had two children’s books published. Recently she moved from London to Australia. Kate first discovered AddmySupport when a friend back in London asked her for help with her own book project but Kate soon found she needed some help herself.
Kate had used AddmySupport to share her own writing experiences, suggestions and recommendations to help her friend get started. She even managed to arrange a meeting for her with a London publisher. Two days before Kate’s next manuscript was due her computer crashed and she couldn’t access any of her files.
With three months work on the line, Kate urgently needed help. She asked her AddmySupport network for help and when Kate’s friend saw her request, she wanted to do something to help. She knew someone who had the same laptop as Kate so forwarded Kate’s request to him. He had had a similar problem and quickly recommended the recovery software he had used directly to Kate in Australia. Through AddmySupport she downloaded it immediately and within an hour had managed to save all her lost files.
“It was great to be able to support my friend even though I live so far away, but it was even better to have all these people helping me when I had no idea what to do or who else to ask.”
Anna - 61- Exeter- Recovering from an operation
Anne has never had a day's illness in her life but she is now suffering with osteoarthritis and has just had a joint replacement operation. She will be in plaster for several weeks and will not know until then if the procedure has been successful. Before the operation, she had so many questions she didn't want to bother her consultant with. "How much will it hurt?" was quite a big one.
She had already used the AddmySupport to find a number of arthritis pain relief solutions so she started her own support page asking for advice from anyone who had had a similar experience. The responses reassured her and that support continued after the operation. She had people to talk to who really understood how frustrating the slow healing process was and the physical help she needed.
They filled a huge gap between her discharge from hospital and her first post-op appointment when she found the care advice she had been given was just not enough. She's added her own blog to her support page now in the hope that others will take comfort from her experience.
Lucy - 19 - Cardiff - Wants to make a difference
Lucy is at university and has strong views and opinions about lots of things. Although she supports lots of campaigns and causes she was frustrated that nothing ever happened.
Watch the video to see how she uses AddmySupport to run her own campaign.
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