UNISON Ulearn Northern Ireland

I work 20 hours a week providing care for elderly and adults with disabilities. I left school with no qualifications at all, I didn’t even sit the exams. This had a big impact and really limited the types of jobs I could go for. I had been in the union since I started working in 1988, firstly with the Trust and then for the past few years with Moneydarragh Flexicare. I’d had never thought of the union as an organisation that could provide learning opportunities and was very interested when I heard about Return to Learn course.

I wanted to give it a go to see what I could do. I have three sons and I suppose I saw it as time for me. It was a long time since I left school, but even in my 40s I was one of the younger ones in the group. I was scared because I thought it would be like school, but it was a course you took part in, not one you got talked at. Learning as an adult was a totally different experience and I loved it.

We had to write a short story and I found that once I started I didn’t want to stop. There were 4-5 of us from Kilkeel who did the course and we’d meet up in each other’s houses to discuss the topics. There were two residentials and it was the first time I’d ever been away from my family, I left them a freezer full of stew so they wouldn’t starve! The residentials were fantastic, we meet people from other places who were doing Return to Learn and it was great to hear different experiences and viewpoints. It was very sociable and we all went out together.

The Return to Learn gave me real confidence, it made me realise that I wasn’t thick. Because of it, I went on and did a City & Guilds 9281 – which is a basic skills tutoring course. This was a year long course and as part of it, I had to support someone on a one to one basis with their basic skills. I was also able to use those skills to support one of my clients who has a disability and was doing an Open University course. I then decided to do computers and did them all – ECDL, ECDL +, website design and in the middle of that I did my GCSE English. It was the Return to Learn which started it all off.

I was working in Moneydarragh when my colleagues approached me about being the union representative because the person who had been in the role left. I did the Stewards Training three day course which was really useful. I learned a lot about how to support people around particular issues, how to speak to management and members, about how UNISON structures work and about different bits of the law. I am now the shop steward in our workplace and while it can be a challenge, it’s good to try and make a difference.

Generally I would recommend the UNISON courses, especially Return to Learn because you’re never too late to learn.