I've messed up retraining. What can I start instead at 50?

[asmallcountry]

I need help with ideas for retraining because I've spent the last 8 years trying to find a new career/decent work. I've recently retrained and it's not working out - and I can't keep getting this wrong.
I had a career in a very niche, very visual, field in London for many years. I wasn't wildly ambitious with it, but it was ticking over. Then I relocated (for DH's work) to a different area of the country, where this particular industry and career doesn't exist. It coincided with the end of my maternity leave for my 2nd child and it was a very overwhelming period, moving to an area where we didn't know anyone, trying to put down roots and my DH working 60 hours a week in a demanding job. So I decided to take a couple of years to focus on being a SAHM, do lots of work that needed doing on the house, and then try and get back into the workplace.
Well. Getting back into the workplace was so much harder than I thought. It was really hard to find anything to fit around DH's long hours. I had a few part-time jobs in the arts and admin. I finally found a full-time wfh entry-level job, which worked ok for a year, but the boredom of an entry-level role and lack of progression opportunities made me decide I needed to retrain and get some actual qualifications, a higher-paying job, and better long-term prospects. I retrained on one of the government-funded tech bootcamps. Not because I was interested in, or showed particular competence, in tech, I just wanted to find something "sensible", in demand and with prospects. The course providers assured us that it was suitable for everyone, even those with no prior tech experience. It did seem successful to begin with, in that I got a job afterwards at a much better salary (not wildly high, but it's around the average salary for my age and it represented only the second time in a decade I'd had a year earning in five figures and the first time in a decade I'd earned more than £25k in a year - so it made a massive difference to our family finances and my almost non-existent pension pot).
However, I'm rubbish at it and I hate it. I'm scared all the time that I'm going to get found out. My work is stacking up and I'm falling behind. It turns out that no matter how much I try and cram into my head I can't grasp enough of tech to be any good at this. I know I can't stick it out long-term, as I've realised how fast you have to be to keep up with all the changes in the field, and at 50 I can feel my brain isn't as good as it was (and I'm struggling to keep up with colleagues).
So, what to do? I look like someone who can't stick with anything, but aside from my first career, I haven't found anything I feel good at.
I've been wracking my brains for what I can try and do and I'm feeling so stuck and hopeless - I'm just posting in case anyone can suggest anything I haven't thought of.
Essentially, I need something that doesn't require a huge amount of retraining (can't afford an MA, for instance) or where retraining can be done on the job (I'd be open to an apprenticeship).
I'm considering what I'm good at (and bad at). I'm much more aware of myself than I used to be, especially now that I have a later-life diagnosis of ADHD and autism - which has made sense of so many things I've struggled with in life and in work. This is my summary:
-I'm creative, and very visual, but I know I'm going to struggle to keep up with tech in modern creative fields like design - I feel that there are so many younger people coming through who have such solid skills in these areas.
-Most people think I'm good with people - I'm welcoming, and appear good at social interactions. However, I'm masking well - which I find quite exhausting, so some "people" jobs might work for me, but others might get overwhelming.
-I find admin almost unbearable and impossible and I get overwhelmed and bored to the point of inertia. (I think this is the ADHD).
-Variety is good. Some movement is good. I'm good at fine detail and intricate work with my hands. I would have been great in an age where I could have sat on a production line in the potteries painting intricate decorations on pots. I'm good at light manual work, in another life I could have been a gardener or done painting and decorating - but I'm not young enough or strong enough now.
I have a medical condition which means that although I can drive I find it very tiring and quite difficult - otherwise some kind of delivery round job might have ticked the boxes in terms of variety and movement.
I feel that if I had my time again and was doing a degree again I'd have picked something like art conservation or art therapy.
Essentially, I need a change, I don't think I can do admin or office work, but I'm not fit and young and strong either.
Any ideas?!? Help!

Nursery nurse? Tons of apprenticeships and desperate for staff so a job for life. However low pay and physically demanding. Lots of apprenticeships in the NHS too, some office based, others more frontline like for HCA or nursing associate roles. But same as above, low pay and physically demanding.

@WeightoftheWorld I've wondered about nursery nursing roles, but whatever I do now has to be able to last me into the future - to retirement age (and probably beyond). It is something I think I would be good at and I would enjoy, but I'm not sure I would have the energy to keep up in the long term. I wonder as well whether they would favour younger candidates (even if not explicitly)? I've been looking at NHS vacancies near me, in case there is anything that catches my eye. I struggle with blood, so would rule out anything close to nursing. Everything else I've seen so far is very admin.

This might be a terrible idea with what you said about masking being exhausting, but it crossed my mind because you said about art therapy - what about psychological wellbeing practitioner?

I've seen people on here rating the entry routes for psychological wellbeing practitioner and talking about potential to progress.

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles/psychological-wellbeing-practitioner

It might be worth exploring roles with similar entry routes even if this particular one isn't a good fit?

Also, what kind of "tech" role are you in now if you feel able to say? Wondering if there's any way to use it to pivot even if it's to do something different.

If gardening itself would be too physical, would a garden centre role be achievable?

Art teacher ?
Florist?
Photographer ?
Kids birthday party entertainer ?
Start a baby class franchise ?
Masseuse ?
Product manager (which would use your tech experience but in more of a people role although perhaps still too much admin?)
Hairdressing?
Celebrant ?
Sales (technical sales pays really well and if you’re good with people could work?)
Dog Walker ? Pet sitter ?
Real estate ?

Also (sorry for the multiple posts), I've also read posts on here from posters with autism diagnosis who said 1:1 therapist type work was a good fit for them as a career that balanced their strengths and challenges. That was the other reason PWP came to mind when I read your post.

Fire risk assessor doesn’t seem to need experience and pays well

postman ?keep you fit ?

Agree with the psychological wellbeing practitioner link above.

Keep an eye out for jobs at places like Abilitynet - at the moment they only have volunteer jobs, though if by any chance you have time for that I think you'd enjoy it.

User experience (UX) is very in demand and could be a nice segue with your tech and design experience.

Guide in an art museum/National Trust property
Train guide dogs for the blind
Proofreader/copywriter/copy editor
Note taker for university or HE students with a disability

Well, what about art therapy? You mentioned it in your OP. It's engaging with people but with a specific context which is less exhausting, in interpersonal terms, and uses some of your specific skillset.

How much do you need money, right now and into the future? Do you need a decent steady wage for the next fifteen years or would it be feasible to do something that pays a higher hourly rate like therapy but is unlikely to give you full time hours?

I wouldn't do retraining that costs money in your shoes, but I wonder if you'd have to. There must be organisations near you that work therapeutically in specific settings eg care homes and hospices looking for volunteers who have a certain level of existing skills that not everyone does - that's you, by the way - who could give you volunteering opportunities until you feel able to set yourself up making money in art therapy or a related field.

Proofreader/copywriter/copy editor

I know several people in this field who've lost their jobs recently. Very vulnerable to AI. I wouldn't touch any job working with words rn, including Comms and all the rest of it.

Art therapy? I know someone who did this and it sounded like a lovely job.
I was going to say art teacher but I imagine that’s pretty heavy on the admin.

I'm a PWP so I also wondered if that would be a good fit. I mean... I don't LOVE it, lots
of targets and stressful but it's also a very solid job with lots of selling points and although competitive to get the funded training positions, after that they are crying out for staff! So you will always have a job and can work remotely and flexibly in many places. There's tons of job autonomy. There's also progression routes if you want them, and quickly too!
They might be keen to hire you as someone older to diversify the team too, as it is usually made up of females ages 23-30!

What about HR? I know it's people but it's very process focussed? Or something like interior design if you're creative?

As an aside, what was the tech course you did? I'm looking for a career change and think it would probably suit me.

Thanks, everyone for all of the replies and suggestions so far. Interestingly, several people have suggested things I've been considering, either recently or in the past.
@Muthaofcats great list there, thanks. I've been wondering about retraining as an art teacher, especially as there are now bursaries available to train (I've looked in recent years and it wasn't previously a subject for which funding was available). I have a bit of a pang that I never did it, as I think I'd be quite a good teacher, but also I feel it might not be so good to retrain at an older age (I hear first-hand stories from secondary school from my DD and I think it's quite brutal on older teachers!) I almost bought into a baby class franchise years ago, funnily enough - I think they're more cash than I have spare atm though. I'm sure I'd love florist, photographer and pet-sitting, I am daunted by the hill to climb getting started, especially as I don't have a financial safety net that would make self-employed work/starting a business feel doable. They are definitely in the area I feel I'd be good at though. I've always quite fancied being a postman! Fire risk assessor is actually something I've read about recently and wondered about, I will look into the training for that.
@dreamfield thanks for the psychological wellbeing practitioner suggestion. That sounds interesting. I came across social prescribing for the first time recently and thought that this kind of area might suit me. And yes, I generally find 1to1 situations much easier.
@PermanentTemporary I hadn't heard of abilitynet, thanks, will keep an eye on it.
@SuperGreens I considered doing a UX course when I did my bootcamp retraining, it was largely because one course was funded and the UX one wasn't that swung my mind. It's an area I find interesting, but it's another techy area where I feel I might be swamped by talented young folk. I've noticed that, since I did my course, there are now funded UX courses available, wonder how good they are.
@FoxtrotOscarFoxtrotOscar I do think I'd make a good museum guide, although I've been looking out for vacancies on our local council's jobs page for years and they never seem to come up!
@Pixit and @ru53 You can only train to be an art therapist at a few Unis and none of them are in or anywhere near our city, unfortunately. Otherwise, I think it is what I'd most like to do.
I do need to be earning enough to be a living wage, but it doesn't have to be high. I have done work (although only very part-time) before in related arts fields, doing art with vulnerable people and community groups, and I think your idea @Pixit about exploring opportunities in that kind of area might be my best option - I know I can do it, and it builds on experience I already have rather than being a complete change. And yes, I'm trying to steer clear of anything that looks as though AI could do it! I've worked alongside proofreaders in the past and felt I'd enjoy it myself, but I can see it's likely to be a dying field now.

@frogggy I'm definitely going to look into PWP. Are there any particular websites I should look at in terms of finding out about the funded training positions, or would a general Google search do it?

@Newcrocs I did cyber security. There are two broad routes in it (although there are also many paths within those routes), people either go into the very techy side e.g. working in a security operations centre, threat intelligence, pen testing etc, or governance, risk and compliance, which is much more admin heavy. You need a good understanding of the technical aspects for that, but not to the same depth. It's a lot of policy work, audit, risk assessment, training.

It would be listed as a job vacancy, usually on the NHS website or other job sites. It would be listed as a 'Trainee PWP'
They pay for your uni fees (1 academic year) and you usually attend uni 1 day per week, 1 study day off, then 3 days at work eventually seeing patients as part of the training. The service you work for will be the one hiring if that makes sense. At the end of the training year your employment will just continue there but you will be paid more as now qualified. At that point you then have your pick of the local services cos the turnaround is massive (mostly as people use it as a stepping stone)

You can also fund yourself but this means paying for the course fees AND working for free for that training year. You won't struggle for employment at all at the end of it but it's a year without pay and costly for the course! I would definitely try for funded and see how you get on. Very very competitive so need a great application and interview.

If you need a decent salary consider being a business analyst - good use of your experience. I'm one - reach out if you have questions:)

If you are visual I'd suggest learning British Sign Language, there are evening classes and it can lead to a variety of careers. Interpreting, communication support worker, teacher of the deaf (you would need to do extra training for that).

Don't rule out some craft based careers, have a read about Angela Ashill's career path, crafting at home to making insulation blankets for satellites!

www.ralspace.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/Space-Crafts.aspx

I heard about her on this website that also lists funding for craft skilled careers etc:

heritagecrafts.org.uk

This is also a useful career coaching site for those in the second or third stages of careers:

www.bravestarts.com/

OP, I completely understand where you are coming from, as a neurodiverse career changer who has also ended up in tech and hates it. I regularly have the feeling, not of imposter syndrome, but that my brain just doesn't work that way. I am quick enough to learn things when I put my mind to it, hence my several periods of retraining/careers, I get bored or just puzzled by the practical application.

I'm currently retraining as a therapist (not PWP as it was very competitive in my area) and picking up several crafts. I'm in my mid-forties and realising that in the second act of my life I just can't bend as easily to formal career ladder corporate employment as I used to. I'm hoping for a portfolio career and very happy to make lifestyle changes to adapt to a simpler life to accommodate this.

You sound a lot like me OP. I am a podiatrist. It would fit with

• fine/detailed work with your hands,
• people work, but only 30 minutes at a time
• minimal admin work at entry level
• apprenticeships available

My abysmal admin skills are going to hold me back in climbing the NHS ladder, but you can earn quite well in the private sector.