The House of St Barnabas' Culture V1

INTERVIEW
DAVE STANDEN EMPLOYMENT ACADEMY GRADUATE
SO LOVELY TO MEET YOU DAVE, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO MEET
WITH ME! TELL ME A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF. HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED
WITH THE HOUSE OF ST BARNABAS?
A couple of years ago I went through a really bad time; I had
what they call a “massive depressive episode” — what you
might think of as a “breakdown”. No single thing triggered it,
it was a real combination of factors. Essentially my life was like
a perfect storm; anything that could possibly go wrong, went
really wrong. And all at the same time.
I was being looked after by the Salvation Army back then
and someone from the House came to talk to us about the
Employment Academy which is how I first came to hear about
them. I’d worked in hospitality for 18 years (running pubs),
so they were a bit unsure at the beginning as to whether they
should take me on the programme or not, because I’d had a
lot of experience. But I knew I needed to join because for me
it wasn’t just about going back to work — it was about learning
to feel okay in the world again.
YOU SPEAK ABOUT YOUR TIME HERE WITH SUCH LOVE, WHAT WAS IT
LIKE TO START AT THE EMPLOYMENT ACADEMY AFTER EVERYTHING
YOU’D BEEN THROUGH?
The first day was totally bizarre! There were twenty of us in
our group and there was nearly a thirty year age gap between
oldest and youngest, but the group just gelled immediately.
In the three months of the programme I can’t remember
there being a single argument. We all have our own stories;
everyone’s been down and had bad times, so everyone was
in the same boat.
It’s all about the way people treat you here. The participants
are treated in exactly the same way as the members, and
there’s a huge amount of support. One of the guys who was on
my course, he was petrified on his first day to come downstairs
and take an order — now he’s the top guy in here!
40 ENCOURAGE