Over the next five years I did the rest of the subjects to have a level 3 award. This was started by WINDOW PROJECT (Women Initiating New Development Opportunities for Women) which RWN set up to enable people like me to return to education and employment. I then applied to Institute of Technology Sligo for a level 7 degree course in fine art and to my surprise I got in. Three years later I got my level 7 degree and I believe that this changed my life and has saved my life.
“It is good to use the skills that I got to benefit the community.”
This was not the end of my journey as I still linked in with RWN and I am part of the Upcycling training and group – CycleUp. For this we reuse clothes that would end up in land fill. It is good to use the skills that I got to benefit the community, making masks for care homes when they could not be got at the beginning of the COVID-19 virus outbreak and we are now making up cycled Christmas decorations to be sold in the RWN charity shop and our new online store. I look forward to a brighter future thanks to the help and on-going support of the wonderful people who work there over the years who gave me the opportunities and encouraged me. Now with my new friends in CycleUp I am learning so much about climate change and the environment and I can share some of my skills.
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Thinking of returning to education as an adult? You may find the following resources helpful:
One Step Up: https://www.onestepup.ie/
Fetch Courses: https://www.fetchcourses.ie/
eCollege: https://www.ecollege.ie/
