Monday 14 June 2010
A Manchester dad has spoken about how doing a learndirect
literacy course helped him recover his life after his disabled son
died.
Alan Wilson, 56, had been a full-time carer for his son William for over 10
years when he died in February 2009 aged just 24. Mr Wilson found himself
feeling lost after William’s death but finally decided he should spend his
time trying to get a job in social care. But this was not easy without
qualifications.
“I wanted a career as a care/support worker and although I had years of
experience I didn’t have qualifications. I was filling in application forms
but not getting anywhere,” explained Wilson.
Then, he was thrown a lifeline by a job centre worker who recommended he
get in touch with Highway to Opportunity. The organisation helped Mr Wilson
to sort his CV and enroll on the right type of course. He said, "They
helped me with my CV and also enrolled me on a learndirect
numeracy and literacy course. Since completing the literacy course I have
found a job as a support worker."
However, for Alan who lives with his partner and their two young children,
the success story doesn’t end there. He has now been nominated for a
learning achievement award.
Mr Wilson says that the reason he found learndirect
courses so suited to his life is because of their flexible nature. He
explained, “I was really surprised how flexible these were, you could do
them from home if you wanted to, and I will definitely carry on even though
I now have a job.”
Pauline Renshaw is another learning award nominee from the north-west. She
has completed maths, IT and English courses with
learndirect. Pauline has also spoken about how the home
learning element of the courses helped her gain access to skills that she
would have otherwise missed out on after having her mobility damaged in an
accident.
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