A Co Down man with autism has said landing his first full-time job has helped bring back his confidence after the pandemic.
Lewis McQuaid started working at Danske Bank in Lisburn as a Service Provider in January through the help of Stepping Stones NI and has not looked back since.
Stepping Stones NI is a charity that specialises in providing tailored support to people who have autism, dyslexia, ADHD, learning disabilities and learning difficulties.
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After qualifying with a Distinction in Film and TV at Belfast Met, the 22-year old felt that his confidence and self-esteem had lowered during the global pandemic.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Lewis said: "I knew Stepping Stones from primary school so it was all just employment stuff - CVs were covered later but like how to present yourself, the types of words you want to use, how you want to communicate with your employer and the way you go about that.
"All the stuff you had learnt from high school and A-Levels but reinforcing that stuff."
Lewis signed up for the ‘YOU’ service which supported young people aged 16-24 to develop their confidence, qualifications and employment during the first lockdown.
Stepping Stones NI has supported 80 people who experience barriers to learning and employment to secure paid work in the last 12 months.
Lewis said: "I was out of structure and routine - it was difficult not being around people or seeing my friends. I started to get fed up and found myself becoming lazy.
"I really didn’t want to continue into further education based on video calls and so I turned the university place down.
"I was then at a loss as to what to do with myself -my mum made the call to get me signed up and it has totally changed things for me."
Stepping Stones NI’s partnership with Danske Bank opened the door for Lewis to apply for a position that he was really interested in securing.
Despite this being his first venture into full-time employment, Lewis has been thriving thanks to the support of this youth mentor at Stepping Stones and the team at Danske Bank.
"If you go into a bank most of the time, it's usually quiet if you know what I mean. Then you see how there are specific times it's bunged.
"You also see how it's almost weirdly complicated - whenever you go up to someone and go can I get a personal statement and in two minutes they have it, you see how you need to go through like four different systems to get the right information.
"It's seeing how all these different layers are almost built up on top of each other," Lewis explained.
Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer of Danske Bank, Stephen Matchett, is the senior management sponsor of the Enable - Danske Bank's disability network.
He commented on how partnerships with charities such as Stepping Stones NI not only benefit the individuals coming into these roles but the other members of staff and their customers.
Stephen said: "At the moment, we have two people from Stepping Stones - the real benefit of Stepping Stones is preparing the person and setting them up for success.
"It is right for the person but it is also right for the employer and that makes it very easy as we transition into employment."
Lewis continued: "I am interested in further climbing the ladder and they are very into that so I could see me staying on here and continuing to just do full-time permanent employment.
"Slowly learning how everything works and then being able to help other people."
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