QUALIFIED SUCCESSES 

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More than 90,000 people in have no formal qualifications at all, while many more have had no involvement with education since they left school. But hundreds of courses are on offer in Notts, from gardening and dance to maths and English. CHARLES WALKER visited an adult learning event in The Meadows and met two people whose lives are being transformed by the courses they have taken

Hazel Short did not have a job for over 30 years. The married mum-of-two from The Meadows suffered from clinical depression and the chronic fatigue illness, ME.

Some days it would take Hazel until well into the afternoon to get up and about, and on other days she would not leave her home at all.

"I felt I was useless," said Hazel, 56. "I was so poorly. I could not clean the house. I felt I could not do anything."

But two years ago Hazel decided to take a course.

"I have always liked maths and I saw a course advertised so I thought I would give it a go," she said, looking back on the day she signed up for a basic skills course at The Meadows One Stop Shop.

"I was amazed at the effect it had on me. I found I was looking forward to going and I started to feel more confident.

"The staff were so encouraging. As I improved they pushed me on and when I came to the end of a course they would say, 'what about this?' and start me on another one."

After the maths course Hazel went on to do modules in confidence building, IT, health and safety, English, and driver training, among others, and gradually her confidence grew.

In February, she felt able to go into the workplace for the first time since the 1970s.

Hazel took a temporary job under the New Deal scheme as a clerical assistant at a firm in Ruddington and last week they gave her a permanent post.

"It is a miracle," she said. "I am staggered I have got a job. I still have moments I feel I don't think I can do this, but I love it."

Hazel puts the dramatic change in her life down to taking up learning and the boost that has given her self esteem and motivation.

"I am still on medication," she said. "But I feel different. Each morning I am walking to the bus and I say to myself 'I am going to work' and it is fantastic."

Hazel's experience is not unusual, according to Maurita Farnesy, the access to work coordinator at The Meadows One Stop Shop.

"If you are down, learning and going on a course can be very motivating," she said.

Training is not just about finding a job, said Ms Farnesy.

"There are a vast number of courses," she added. "They are about everything from gardening and IT to cooking, fitness, dance, sewing and dress making. Learning and training is for pleasure as well as for work."

This week more than 100 people attended The Meadows Partnership Trust and One Stop Shop Learning for Life event.

Chefs, dancers and gardeners, as well as representatives of many of the Notts colleges were on hand to tell people what is available.

And a lot of the courses are actually held in The Meadows.

"The colleges come to us," said Ms Farnesy. "We have held courses in community centres, schools, churches... even in the pub. We want to make it easy for people to take part."

It is estimated 6,000 people in The Meadows have got involved in some adult learning in the last five years, since the One Stop Shop opened.

The courses have not only helped people find employment, but also enabled some to move to a better job.

Tina Redgate, 46, is also keen to sing the praises of adult education.

She will soon see her hourly pay rate double when she takes up a new job as a care assistant with Nottingham City Council looking after people with dementia.

Tina, of The Meadows, has worked as a shop assistant in a bakery for five years. As her two children grew up she wanted to develop a career, but lacked the confidence to go for it.

However, she took a Women into Work course, which built up her self esteem and gave her the skills to sell herself in an interview.

"It really helped me," said Tina. "I would not have got the job without it, I did not have the confidence. And this is totally different to what I have done before.

"The course helped me to sit down and talk to people."

Tina will be given on-the-job training when she starts in about two months, leading to an NVQ level three in care, the equivalent of a GCSE.

As well as an extra £2 on her hourly rate, she will also receive additional money for completing training, and she will be able to join a pension scheme.

Adult learning throughout

is mostly coordinated by the Greater Nottingham Learning Partnership, which brings together councils, businesses, colleges and voluntary organisations to ensure the courses that are demanded are on offer and promoted.

A spokeswoman for the partnership said: "Our aim is to get people interested in learning. We want to find out what the gaps in skills are and address that.

"We particularly want to attract reluctant learners."

A few years ago that term would have applied to Hazel Short.

"I never thought any of this was possible," she said.

This article was published in the Evening Post on 22nd May 2004.  The article is written by Charles Walker and the photos of Tina Redgate and Hazel Short were taken by Trevor Bartlett.  The Meadows Partnership Trust would like to thank the Evening Post for giving us permission to reprint the article.