UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

I was born in Belfast and grew up during the Troubles. We lived on a peaceline and it was very turbulent. Education wasn’t a priority with everything else going on and I wasn’t really encouraged. I ended up leaving school at 16 with a few CSEs and got married at 18, spending the next number of years bringing up my kids.

I started working in the hospital as a domestic and after a period of time moved to a job as a nursing auxiliary. Here I met Avril, who was one of the local UNISON reps and she told me about a Return to Learn course which was starting. I suppose the timing was just right, my kids were older, it was my time, time to do something for myself. Other important factors were that we got release from our work to attend and UNISON paid the fees so it was free, as I was not in a well paid job.

I have to admit that the idea of going to a class was very daunting, I hadn’t did anything since school, but I looked forward to the challenge. I really enjoyed getting out and meeting people, people like me. Everyone in the class was nervous, because it was a new experience, but we all gelled together and supported each other. There was a real focus on learning about myself, we had discussions about ourselves, our experience. I never really had time to think about myself, what I had to offer, I was always just a mother or a worker.

We also covered English and Maths and interview skills. Dermott the tutor was fantastic, he was very encouraging and very thoughtful. He made you believe that you could do it and I did. I got my Open College Network qualification and it gave me such confidence in myself.

When a job came up as a Health Care Assistant, I reckoned that if I could do Return to Learn, I could be a HCA. The interview skills which we covered in the course really helped me and I was able to talk about the course at the interview, about what I enjoyed and what I achieved. I believe that I went for and got that job because of Return to Learn. Now there’s no stopping me. Another job came up as a Medical Assistant and I thought – why not? So now I’m a Medical Assistant and enjoying it.