Faced with redundancy in her 50s, George Scully made a career-changing decision.

She toyed with the idea of becoming a life coach, and taking redundancy from her management role within the NHS enabled her to achieve an ambition while helping people in a similar position.

“That is how I became involved with PRIME,” explains George, referring to the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise, a senior enterprise programme established by the Prince of Wales dedicated to providing everyone over 50 who is unemployed or under threat of redundancy with support to achieve financial, social and personal fulfilment through sustainable self-employment.

Last year, more than 4,400 over-50s signed up to the charity, seeking support to start their own businesses and more than 65 workshops were held throughout the country.

George, from Shipley, attended a PRIME workshop in Leeds following her redundancy in May, 2012. From the initial workshop, and achieving her life coaching qualification, she never looked back. Her mantra is to move forward, mentoring others to motivate and ultimately help them to achieve their goals.

“I went on a training day and got a lightbulb moment and thought that is what I wanted to do,” recalls George, 54.

Through the PRIME workshop, George gleaned the business skills she needed. Along with her life coaching qualification, she is now equipped with the knowledge and expertise she needs to finally go it alone.

But she admits it was daunting. For many people, particularly those in the public sector where budget cuts have prompted job losses, becoming unemployed from a position they have fulfilled for many years is a daunting prospect.

More mature people feel particularly vulnerable as they may feel their age isn’t on their side when seeking an alternative career.

Some cannot afford to retire so are forced to find work, yet many haven’t kept up to date with training and can feel daunted by the prospect of compiling their CV.

George says one of the biggest concerns for people over 50 is financial stability and security. “And obviously that is affected by redundancy,” says George.

Through her recently-launched enterprise, George offers personal coaching to enable people to move away from where they are now to where they want to be; to set goals and take action; make changes improving their health and fitness, work life balance or confidence and, ultimately, realise their goals.

George says many people intend to make changes in their life but often lack motivation. She explains that a personal coach can ensure they stick to their goals and achieve them.

“I call it personal coaching – it covers a whole range of things,” she says. “One of my areas of specialism is around career transition. It is helping people make those changes, helping them to identify what they want to do.”

She also works with professional businesswomen who may be seeking assistance with time management; achieving a work/life balance or confidence issues.

Proving that she practices what she preaches, George has her own life coach and is now reaping the benefits of the support she has been given in setting up her own business.

“Everybody uses the term ‘journey’, but it has been really interesting and I have learned so much, not just about coaching, about my strengths and about setting up in business, dealing with fear, anxiety, worry,” says George.

She says becoming unemployed can be a shock to many people, and the prospect of finding an alternative career can be daunting, especially for the more mature.

“Research talks about an increase in the number of over 50s setting up in business and I am quite fascinated with the range of people on the PRIME course,” she says.

“I think the reason for seeking out a life coach is to help you make the changes and make the changes happen quicker than if you did it on your own.

“People either want to make the change but don’t get around to doing it because it is too frightening or life gets in the way so they never get round to it and, equally, I think some people start down that road by themselves but having a coach can make it happen much quicker and keep them motivated,” says George.

For more information visit georgiescullycoaching.co.uk.