UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

I’ve done the Return to Learn this year and I also completed the UNISON Steward’s Training course. I heard about the Return to Learn, which was being offered through the Trust from Paul MacLaughlin, the branch secretary. I was bullied in school and left with no qualifications, which I always regretted. I heard that the Return to Learn gave you an overview of what it would be like to go back to learning. It made me think that if I put my mind to it, I could do it.

At the start I was a bit worried because it was such a long time since I had done anything. But at the introduction the tutor made it clear that it was totally different to school. I really enjoyed the course, it covered a lot, English and Maths and some computers, but also communication and working in groups. The residentials were very good, we did a lot of team building and got to meet people from other Trusts. The tutor was very helpful, you just had to ask and she made sure that you understood it, it made all the difference.

As part of the course, someone from EGSA came in to talk about where we could go from here. We could meet someone individually and I got lots of information. I’m thinking of getting a qualification in Maths and English and would like to do an Access course at the Institute.

The course also helped me in my job, I learned a bit of computers, it definitely gave me more confidence and helped me organise my time better. As part of the course, we had assignments to do, so I had to go home and learn to organise my time, so I could do the reading and get them done.

I’ve also done the UNISON Steward’s Training course. We didn’t have any steward in portering, so if issues came up, they were dealt with by a steward who worked in a different part of the hospital. I didn’t know anything about being a steward before I started. I went on the three day course and found it really interesting, learning about the workings of the union, realising that you are not on your own, there’s a whole team of people behind you. As a steward I’ve been involved in the implementation team which came out of the review of portering. This involves meeting with management to iron out issues before they become bigger problems. As a steward people come to me with questions and problems. If I don’t know I tell people that I can find out and get back to them, I don’t know everything, but I keep learning new things. I’d recommend that more people become stewards, particularly for people in their own part of the hospital, because you can understand the problem better and know the people involved. The more stewards we have, the better UNISON can represent all of our members.