I STARTED MY TEACHING CAREER in a Church of England Junior School in Coseley, West Midlands in September 1969.  I stayed in the Midlands for 6 years before moving to Abergavenny in 1975, as my husband was taking up a teaching post in Brynmawr.  I had a career break to raise my two children and eventually started work as a supply teacher in 1984.  I returned to a permanent post in 1988 while studying for a B.Ed. in Special Education.  Teaching in a reception class was the pinnacle of my career, it was just brilliant.   I had to take early retirement in 1998.

My first experience of voluntary work was on a fundraising committee for Barnardo’s in Abergavenny.  This work was enjoyable.  I then became a course leader with the Arthritis Care’s Challenging Arthritis and then moved on to become a self-management trainer, training other volunteers. This was the most rewarding voluntary work I had experienced.  I found I was capable of empowering people with arthritis and my own self confidence began to grow.  I realised that the skills I had learnt as a teacher could be transferred and used in other ways. 

In 1998, I was introduced to the Certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers.  I thoroughly enjoyed studying by myself without any pressure and decided to keep on going as the programme on offer from Lampeter developed. 

First Presentation Day

I went to my first presentation Day with the Department in April 2000.  Receiving my certificate was an experience I will never forget.  There were students from all over the UK and, at last, I could put names to faces.  I realised I was part of something special and it motivated me to do more.  I was empowered.

Then it was onwards and upwards through levels 2 and 3, enjoying the modules and learning so much about the voluntary sector and myself.  For my dissertation, I looked at the impact of the 1988 Education Act.  The research proved to be an incredible journey through, in many ways, the dark days of change in teaching.  For the first time, I really began to understand what was going on behind the scenes of these changes. It gave me the chance to read a great deal and also interview five teachers.  Presenting the dissertation was time consuming and I had to use all the computer skills from various courses I had attended.  I was relieved to get it in the post. 

The staff at the Department of Voluntary Sector Studies are wonderful, there was always someone at the end of the telephone or e-mail if there was a problem.  The course notes are comprehensive and there to be used over and over again.  Helen, the Department’s librarian, was great and I found the Libraries Plus scheme a bonus.

To end, I feel that the degree in Voluntary Sector Studies covers an enormous area of study, and there is a wide choice in the programme far more choice than when I first started all those years ago.  The course is not an easy one, it is extremely rigorous, but it was definitely worth all the hard work.

You may also want to read:
Irene's Story
James' Story
More about the Department of Voluntary Sector Studies

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