A BATTLING Blackpool businessman, who thought his working life was over after a heart attack stopped him in his tracks, is shinning up a new career ladder.
The former salesman and business boss found a new lease of working life as a book-keeper with long-established town firm Duxbury's, and within weeks he was promoted to Office Manager.
Now Geoff Collinge, 57, is hoping his story will help other people to turn their lives around, with the help of national charity Shaw Trust.
"I'm enjoying a new career and a new challenge, even though I was at rock bottom a few months ago," says Geoff, who lives in the Wyre area of north Blackpool.
"Shaw Trust have done a lot for me, not least giving me the confidence and the support to change career. It would be great if my story could inspire other people to get back into the working world."
An over-achieving salesman for over 30 years, including five years successfully running his own business, Geoff was devastated by a heart attack in 1995, which left him with a series of health problems.
He continued to work in a series of top selling jobs, but was made redundant in 2000. He swiftly got another job, even though he was battling increasing debilitation, only to be made redundant again in December 2003. He has been desperately seeking work ever since.
"I had a pacemaker fitted in July, which has made all the difference to my health, but I've developed leg problems, after chipping my anklebone in a fall," explains Geoff, a father of two grown up sons.
"I used to love gardening and DIY, and even put in my own central heating, but now I couldn't even get down to lay a carpet."
Still he was determined to get a job, and got lots of interviews on the strength of his sparkling CV. But the man who has been able to sell anything and everything since he got into the sales business at 18, couldn't talk himself past the first post.
"It's a very ageist business," he admits. "My experience got me interviews, but then when they saw someone of my age come in, hobbling a bit because of my leg, that's where it ended. I just didn't look the part.
"In the end I'd ring people who offered interviews to say, 'Do you realise how old I am?', because I didn't want to waste their time and mine.
"It ground me down, because no-one likes being rejected. I love selling, and I miss the adrenaline rush of someone saying yes to a deal, but I had to accept that it was time to move on."
But move on to what? Geoff's experience was all in sales, except for a short spell as a ladies' hairdresser, and his health problems meant that manual work was out. "The thought of starting again from scratch is daunting," he admits, "and I was worried about coming off benefits to get work, in case it didn't work out."
Used to being a working whiz, Geoff was also rapidly losing confidence. "I'm a morning person and the worst thing was forcing myself to get up out of bed when there seemed no reason to do so," he reveals.
"I could have screamed out of pure desperation at times, as I sat at my computer firing off reams of applications. I thought 'I just can't do this any more', to the point where it was affecting our marriage," adds Geoff, whose wife of 35 years, Helen, works on an Inland Revenue helpline.
"You get stuck in stupid little ruts. I used to go to pub in the afternoon, purely to get out and meet other people."
Then his life changed, when his Job Centre advisor suggested that he contact Shaw Trust, the UKs leading provider of employment services for people with disabilities or disadvantages. The charity runs 33% of the government's Job Broking Programme (freephone 0800 085 1001) which is specifically designed to help people make the move from benefits to work.
After meeting with the Trust's Personal Advisor Mike Burrell, Geoff began to get back to his buoyant self. "I immediately felt better about myself and began to see light at the end of the tunnel," he recalls.
He was assigned to Shaw Trust Recruitment Advisor Peter Shuttleworth, who explained how he could move initially into permitted work without losing his benefits, as he explored other careers.
Geoff was offered a book-keeping job with residential property surveyors Duxbury's, who also run a town centre Commercial Estates Agents. His new bosses were so impressed with his work that they promoted him within weeks and now Geoff is off Incapacity Benefit, back in the working world and happy with life again.
"We're delighted to have found Geoff," says Michael Dickinson, who runs Duxbury's with partner Stephen Booth.
"We needed a book keeper, but it was quickly apparent that Geoff's management and people skills were just what we needed in an Office Manager."
"I had done a book keeping course at college when I was 17, and I still had one of the course books, would you believe it," smiles Geoff.
"I'm learning as I go, and Duxbury's are paying for me to train to use the Sage Accounting system. They also purchased special chair to help my back when I'm working at the computer.
"I'm really grateful for their investment in me, but most of all I'm grateful because they gave me the chance,and that's priceless."
As with all of their clients, Shaw Trust continues to support Geoff and his employers. "The Trust even helped to fund a new pair of glasses necessary because of all the computer work I'm doing," says Geoff.
"They are always at the end of the phone if I need them, and I know they always will be.
"Best of all, they gave me the confidence to change my life. You don't notice the effect not having a job is having until it's too late.
"Now I have a new job and I'm looking forward to the future instead of back at what was. I've got a new challenge, I'm loving it and, just as important, I have my self respect back."
