She too experienced the devastation of a first-time redundancy saying, “I was frightened that it would look bad on my CV, that I would fall down the slippery career ladder, catastrophising my way to visions of homelessness and poor health.” I experienced the exact same thought process, particularly given the cost of living crisis and the fact I’m a single woman, renting alone with no secondary income from a partner to keep the bills paid.

And yet, as Donna explained, you can utilise your redundancy in a myriad of ways. For her, the first redundancy period was short-lived, as she jumped straight back into work within a month and used her redundancy payout money for savings. The second time, she relaxed and went travelling for six months across Eastern Europe, the locations chosen for their affordability and because she felt “physical distance from the problems helps with perspective”. Though she’s got fond memories of her travels, saying that it helped her “realise what’s important”, she also admitted she came back to a struggling job market and had to sign up for Jobseeker’s Allowance, making her wary of using a redundancy payout to travel again.

Following her latest redundancy this April she is actively job hunting, as money remains a concern in the current climate. Her only regret regarding redundancy was in being indecisive, she says. “It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the possibilities so I’m using this break to really think about what I want from my life and that’s really exciting.”

I’ve never thought of redundancy as exciting before. It was always a terrifying prospect that I watched various family members going through as I grew up, reining in their spending overnight and crying about failing to pay their mortgage – a situation I now find myself in as I consider how I’ll pay my rent. But my redundancy payment hasn’t even landed in my bank account yet and I’ve already secured two freelance gigs, speaking at a literary festival and completing some work for a digital start-up. I’ve made social plans with friends to go to free exhibitions, pub quizzes, picnics and even road trips to visit family who I wouldn’t normally have the time to see. Couch surfing and travelling with others, I’m not spending too much money in the process.

“I felt like a failure when I was made redundant, but other women have helped me through”