FOCUS & ME
FOCUS & ME Caterina Versari
FOCUS & me lets members share their experience of what it means to be part of our community.
My husband and I decided t moe fom
Brusels t London in a hury.Te final decision was made at the beginning of July and we moved in September. In the meantime, he discussed his PhD thesis, we had our second child and finally we packed everything and moved to London – amazing! Tis was our first experience abroad as a family. We have two children: a little girl of two and a half years and a baby boy who was 20 days old when we arrived in London. In Brussels, we were both working, our first child was going to a nursery and we had a family as well as numerous friends. We were both enthusiastic about moving to London but before arriving, I did not realise how different life was compared with Brussels. I had nothing here, only a very few contacts. Before becoming depressed and because I hate staying home with time on my hands, I took advantage of my small network and this is how I discovered FOCUS.
Membrs are not numbrs – thy prsonaly care aot yo
A friend of a friend of a friend (or something like this, I do not recall how many friend of a friend is in this history but I would like to thank them all) put me in touch with Alessandra Gnudi, executive director at FOCUS. I wrote to Alessandra and few days later I was in FOCUS’ office meeting with her, she was very kind to me and supportive while I was a little bit lost in this new world. FOCUS’ team helped me with several issues by phone or by email and they always quickly answered all my questions (medical system, childcare, nanny, school system, insurances etc). From the beginning, what I have really appreciated about FOCUS is the friendly environment. For them, members are not numbers – they personally care about you. As an example, I attended my first two events with my little boy because I was still breastfeeding; they helped me take care of him. Alessandra also introduced me to some of her friends who live nearby and have babies the same age as mine.
I am now following the career development programme and I find it great. It is helping me to figure out what I would like to do as well as how to manage being a mother and satisfying my job expectations. All the speakers I have met so far are extremely competent and accommodating. Te events and seminars have also been occasions to meet and chat with new people.
So a big thanks to the FOCUS family and community for all the help received, and good luck to you all with your new London
32 FOCUS The Magazine May/June 2019
www.focus-info.org
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