Peter Lovegrove
When Peter Lovegrove joined a Family Learning course, he was terrified; now three years later he is a tutor and supports other adults to take up learning and improve their career opportunities.
Peter didn’t receive the support he needed at school and endured years of bullying. He said, “I feel sometimes that I failed school, but also school failed me.” He left with few qualifications and took up a number of jobs to pay the bills, including painting and decorating, gardening, factory work, laying water mains; he was also a milkman and worked in a bakery.
He never thought he could have a professional career, until he moved to Plains Farm with his family. There he joined a 10-week Family Learning course at his children’s school. “It was probably one of the hardest things I have ever had to do; I was terrified of going back to the classroom,” he said. “Each week it got easier…. After this I attended more courses and learnt new skills.”
Improving his literacy and numeracy skills gave Peter the confidence to complete a Write CV and Job Search course. He then put all his newly acquired skills to good use by setting up a voluntary job search session for people in his local community, with support from Plain Farm’s Community Initiative.
Peter has since gone to college and completed qualification 7303 in teaching adults. He is now a community tutor and says, “I am, for the first time, doing something I love and enjoy in the heart of my own community and I get paid for it. I never thought a Family Learning course to help support my children with their homework would change my family’s life so much.”