Rose's story


I worked in an accounting related industry for many years, and I liked my job and felt I was good at it. But when I turned 60 my organisation went through a major restructure and I was invited to apply for a new role covering a much larger geographical area. I felt it was time for a change so decided to leave instead.


Many people encouraged me to retire, but that didn't feel like the right thing for me. I had a second career writing business books so I thought I'd pursue that. However, leaving paid employment after such as long time was more of a transition than I had thought. My husband was working, so money wasn't an issue but I missed the challenge of working full time. I'm an active person and can always find something to do, but I had moved from being very busy every moment of the day to having more time on my hands and that felt strange. A former colleague suggested I should contact caba.

how caba helped me

caba offered me some career coaching and it was incredibly helpful. My coach was excellent. We started off working on using LinkedIn and social media for business, but overall it was about confidence building. My coach saw my value and how it could be applied. I also went on a caba course called 'Developing and maintaining a growth mindset', which was really rewarding and took me to the point where I had my own business plan.

I'd been a visiting fellow at a University and they invited me to undertake an interesting international project that involved research into project management at governmental level. I'm not an expert in project management and, at first, the thought of speaking to senior government officials on a subject I knew little about was daunting. However, the coaching gave me that extra confidence to say "yes" and I thoroughly enjoyed doing the work.

From there I also had the opportunity to co-deliver a business workshop in Jordan. Once again, my coaching gave me the confidence to go for it, and I'm so glad I did. I realised that in my last role I was on autopilot and rarely stepped out of my comfort zone, but that's all changed now.

I wasn't sure I would qualify for help from caba initially, but I'm so glad I contacted them. To have that support without any personal cost was a tremendous gift at this stage of my life.

are you eligible for caba's services?

caba supports the wellbeing of past and present ICAEW members, ACA students, ICAEW staff members, and their spouses, partners and children up to the age of 25. Our support is free, impartial and strictly confidential. For advice, information and support please click on the button below.

talk to us

 

find out more about our career advice services

contact us

You can access our self-help content for career advice

read more

we offer a range of training and events that can help your career

find out more

training and events

view all training and events 

your questions answered 

Who is eligible for support?

We support past and present members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW), ACA students, ICAEW staff members, and the family and carers of members and students. 

  1. No matter where your career takes you, past and present members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England Wales (ICAEW) are eligible for caba’s services for life, even if you change your career and leave accountancy 
  2. ACA students (ICAEW Provisional Members) who are either an active student or have been an active student within the last three years are eligible for caba's services 
  3. Past and present staff members of the ICAEW or caba are eligible for caba's services for life, even if you leave either organisation. Please note, for former employees, our financial support is only available to those who have had five years continuous employment with either organisation 
  4. Family members and carers of either an eligible past or present ICAEW member, ACA student or past or present employee of the ICAEW or caba are eligible for caba's support. We define a family member as a: 
    1. spouse, civil partner or cohabiting partner 
    2. widow, widower or surviving civil partner who has not remarried or cohabiting with a partner 
    3. divorced spouse or civil partner who has not remarried or cohabiting with a partner 
    4. child aged up to 25. Please note, children aged between 16 and 25 are not eligible for individual financial support 
    5. any other person who is dependent on the eligible individual supporting them financially or are reliant on the eligible individual’s care 
    6. any other person on whom the eligible individual is reliant, either financially or for care 

You can find out more about our available support both in the UK and around the world on our support we offer page and by using our interactive eligibility tool

Are your services means-tested?

If you need financial support, we carry out a means test where we consider income, expenditure, capital and assets.  

*Please note none of our other services are means-tested. 

I’m an accountant, but not a member of ICAEW, can you still help?

Unfortunately not. We only support past and present ICAEW members, their carers and their families. If we are unable to support you, where possible we will point you to help elsewhere.

caba has supported me in the past; can I receive support from caba again?

We understand that circumstances change. If we’ve helped you in the past there’s no reason why we can’t help you again. You can contact us at any time. Please call us if you need our help.

view more questions



Not got the answer to your question?