Driving a bus despite dyslexia 'changed my life'
BBCJennifer Heaton had been looking for a job for a year and a half and, between applications, "didn't really do much". Having dyslexia made life difficult - until a post on social media sent her towards help and a new lease of life as a bus driver.
"It's big, it's long, it's wide, it literally just fits on the road," Heaton says, admitting to a certain amount of fear when she first took the wheel of a bus.
But, after a couple of weeks, it just felt normal, like a car, and she feels her new job has changed her life.
Heaton, from Carlisle, in Cumbria, struggled with interviews before getting help from a government-funded programme, Connect to Work, run by the charity Inspira.
The scheme is working with 280 people in the county who want to work but face difficulties, such as health issues or homelessness.
Because of the scheme, Heaton now works for the bus company Stagecoach, and says: "I don't see this job as work; I see it as enjoyment.
"Being a bus driver is absolutely amazing. I enjoy the customers coming on, because you have good conversations with them."
Heaton says she had applied for multiple jobs but was "not getting anywhere".
"It was getting really frustrating because I like to be out busy, working, doing something," she says.
She posted on Facebook, asking for help, and someone suggested she contact Inspira, the charity commissioned to run the scheme in Cumbria.
With nearly 2.8 million people economically inactive due to long-term health problems, Connect to Work is part of wider government efforts to get more people into employment.,
The Cumbria Combined Authority said it had secured £11m for the scheme until 2030 and aimed to help 3,000 people.
Head of Connect to Work for the authority, Tim Gale, said it was different from previous types of employment support because it helped people stay in work after finding a job.
Inspira helped Heaton prepare for her interview and arranged extra support for her once she started work, arranging any adjustments she needed with Stagecoach.
Heaton found going out into the countryside difficult and the company now allows her to work just on city routes and she says she has had a lot of help from colleagues when she struggles to memorise new diversion routes in the city.
"There's always roadworks around Carlisle and that's really hard for me, but they'll sit there explain it to me, show it through the maps," she says.
Dyslexia means it is harder for her to learn on paper or via emails, and overcoming that was hard, she says, in a world where people sometimes do not understand learning disabilities that are not visible.
But her confidence has improved since working for Stagecoach and she is less anxious, she says, and the salary has meant she can afford to go on holiday and buy a car.
"It's just changed my life totally," she says.
"I'm so much happier now."
Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram and listen to Radio Cumbria on BBC Sounds.