After he was discharged from the Royal Navy, Mark Priestman found work on building sites until the Covid crisis hit. Joining a veterans’ boxing session helped Mark connect with London’s Armed Forces community, then a construction skills course steered him towards positive new opportunities. With employment support, Mark secured a job as a Trainee Highway Electrician in and around Surrey, drawing on some of the skills he developed during Service. 

Mark said: “I became unemployed at the start of the Covid crisis, and during Covid I wasn’t doing anything at all. I’d worked for a long time as a hod carrier and I thought about getting back into that, but physically it’s hard work. I’m in my 40s now and I need to think about the future.

“When I got in touch with The Poppy Factory I met Christina, my Employment Consultant. Christina took a lot of notes, I showed her my qualifications and she did a really good job of putting it together into a CV. 

"I never thought I’d get a job like this. I thought I’d be hod carrying for the rest of my life. Even though I had those qualifications, I’d never really pushed myself to find something else.”