Benji’s Story

Benjamin, or Benji as he likes to be called has been a long-term volunteer at Workaid, attending The Hub since the age of 21.

Benji now 34, was born with Down Syndrome and Tetralogy of Fallot affecting the blood flow through his heart, requiring heart surgery soon after birth and annual check-ups. He was brought up by his grandparents and attended mainstream school for the early part of his education before moving into Special Needs education. At the age of 18 he went into a care home, before being assessed and referred to Shared Lives in Buckinghamshire. He moved to Amersham to live with Trevor and Pat.

Benji was keen to do something useful and with Trevor’s help, he found Workaid. It gave Benji the opportunity to ‘gain some experience in a work environment’ and he has remained at Workaid ever since. Trevor was Benji’s carer until 2020, when he sadly died from COVID. 

Benji looks forward to his visits to Workaid each Monday and Tuesday, he gets himself ready and leaves the house saying he is on his way to work. He enjoys the camaraderie of being in an environment with a variety of people including his friends Ben and Hamad.  Benji enjoys working, he always wants to do more work. ‘I enjoy working on the fabrics and tools. These are sold in the shop and the proceeds are to pay for the containers to go to Africa’, he said.