My name is Jordan Scott and I joined Complete I.T. in January 2017. I am the Office Administrator/Business Apprentice for the London office.
I was thrilled when I was told about the business apprenticeship, and I knew straight away CIT was the place I wanted to build my career; working for CIT is not new for me, during the school holidays I used to help my Mum Louise with admin work for the Head Office in Wooburn Green.
This blog is all about why Complete I.T. have chosen to support the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, as one of their Charities of the Year for 2017/18 and I guess it all starts with me…
In late 2011, I came home, from school feeling unwell and my eyes were very jaundice. After constant trips, back and forth to the hospital, and being turned away a few times with no diagnosis Kings College in London decided to perform a biopsy on me. I was lucky enough to arrange an appointment here through the health benefits available to CIT team members.
On the 6th January 2012, I was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH).
My Mum, Louise, had not been with CIT very long when I first became ill however; thankfully back in 2011 Louise only worked part-time and could take the time off to be there for me in the early days of my condition. CIT were extremely supportive, and would accommodate her working hours around hospital and doctors’ appointments. We are so grateful to CIT and the support they gave and continue to give, with the regular check-ups etc.…
Since the original diagnosis my condition has been managed well with regular appointments and medication. However, in 2015, following a routine Hepatitis injection I had a relapse, this meant I spent 3 weeks (across the whole year) admitted into hospital. Thankfully, I had the support from CIT where they allowed my Mum to have the time off to look after me and stay with me whilst recovering in hospital.
The Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) have also always been there to support me through the hardest times, and I am truly grateful for their support and guidance.
The CLDF are an amazing charity, they are located in Birmingham and support families throughout the UK and Ireland, they were originally formed when a family member was diagnosed with a liver condition and there was no support network for them to share their own experience or turn to for support. The CLDF offers a wide range of support to families and young people with Liver Conditions including; family events, weekends away, counselling, research into advances in medicines, and general advice on day to day activities which most families with ‘well’ children take for granted.
Throughout my time being involved with this charity, I have attended many events. My first ever event was a bowling day in Hertfordshire. We had gone to this 3 days after we had found out about the CLDF and little did we know then, how much of an impact they would have on our lives.
From then on, we attended most of the events which were local to us. These were a mix between bowling days, picnics and residential trips.
My first residential with the CLDF was back in 2013 and called ‘Closer to the Edge’ (now called Breakaway). Breakaway is an annual residential trip, which allows children to make new friends and do things which you may not necessarily have the confidence to participate in. For the first time, I was doing outdoor activities with other young people just like me. At night, we all sat around the campfire and told our own liver stories, in brief detail, but nobody was moaning or self-pitying – people were laughing. That changed my entire perspective about my condition. I came back with new friends, and a new attitude towards myself.
The following year, I went on a residential called ‘Talk, Tell, Transform’ which is a residential workshop where you can talk about your liver condition and its effect on your life. The aim for the week is to create a digital story to share among other young people who know exactly what it is like and going through similar things to you. TTT helped me gain confidence in being able to tell my stories to others with and without liver conditions. This trip has made me life-long friends, who I see every year at the ‘Young People’s Conference’ which the CLDF holds. As it is a digital story journey, I have included the link to my story below.
We have supported the CLDF as a family through many fundraising activities, my school selected the CLDF as their charity of the year in 2013, my cousins have run the London Marathon and we have held various events throughout the years to raise additional funds. I am now a young ambassador for the CLDF. I have helped with the interview process when selecting our new young person’s officer ‘Rich’ who was appointed in 2015, I have presented at the national conference which is a major event in the calendar and happens bi annually, I sat on a panel with consultants and senior researchers taking questions at the end of the event. I also support newly diagnosed Children through the Hive website, and share my experiences when possible.
Without the support of this invaluable charity I really do not think I could have lived through the past 5 years, my family have always been supportive but having friends who are experiencing similar experiences to me is invaluable. The charity and I am so, so grateful that Complete I.T. have decided to support them as their Charity of the Year and I look forward to getting involved with fundraising events alongside the team and our clients.
If you are interested in finding out more about how you can get involved with Complete I.T.’s Charity of the Year fundraising events talk to your Account Manager or Technical Consultant.