Resettlement success

Forces: Ex-Royal Navy

Nigel B - Chief Petty Officer

“Identify a direction you want to go in then go for it, and ensure you use all the resources and support available.”

Ex-Chief Petty Officer Nigel B served for 28 years in the Royal Navy, and during this time he also became a professionally qualified social worker, gaining experience as manager of a team of social workers in the Royal Navy. Nigel also gained various academic qualifications to support this.

Of the CTP’s Career Transition Workshop, he says, “It helped me to focus on the fact I was leaving and channel my mind and energy into taking responsibility for my own future and using the resources available.” He says that the CTP website “was very helpful in organising and keeping track of my transition through resettlement.”

As part of his resettlement, Nigel completed a one week Civilian Work Attachment with an Independent Fostering Agency and also took a Form F Assessors course, to enable him to assess potential foster carers.

He now works as a Supervising Social Worker for Fusion Fostering and says, “I recruit, assess and train potential foster carers and then place children in their care whilst looking after the placements.”

Nigel adds, “I have also very recently been successful in being offered a place on the Dartington School of Social Enterprise course which is sponsored by Lloyds Bank. Each year out of hundreds of applicants they select 20 people and assist them in starting up a social enterprise. My idea (Purple Initiative) is in relation to providing a national network of health and social care professionals for serving personnel, veterans and their families to access for early intervention support.”

Nigel advises other Service leavers, “identify a direction you want to go in then go for it, and ensure you use all the resources and support available.”
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