Award winner Louise sets up in business as a tutor
Pictured: Louise McKenny
Location: Cornwall
ESF Funding: ESF Convergence
ESF Target Group: Self-employed and social enterprise
National Adult Learners Week 2012 ESF Learning Works award winner, Louise McKenny, has not only overcome alcoholism but is now working as a tutor at a European Social Fund (ESF) supported project and has started her own business.
Louise, 40, moved to Newquay from Yorkshire in her twenties after years of family holidays in Cornwall. She worked for 11 years with the National Health Service but struggled more and more with alcohol and drug use. In 2009 she had to leave work and was admitted to a treatment centre.
Following treatment Louise volunteered at the Alpaca Therapy Farm, helping a range of people from young offenders to autistic clients. She then completed a training course with SHARE – an Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) service for young people. Louise volunteered with SHARE for over a year and gained an NVQ Level 3 in IAG (information, advice and guidance.
She then contacted Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change (CN4C), which uses ESF Convergence to help people into work, where she became a client, learned employability skills at the Work Club and later became a volunteer. When tutors saw her potential, Louise herself became a tutor on CN4C’s New Work Programme, providing advice to other long-term unemployed clients.
Mark Yeoman, Head of ESF Convergence Communication, said, ““For Louise, ESF Convergence investment has been used as part of a raft of support to help her tackle a range of issues, completely change the direction of her life and successfully return to work, using her own experiences to support others. She is an inspiration to us all.”
Louise said, “I cannot start to describe how much my life has changed in the past two and a half years. I used to drink until I passed out and I thought that other people who had a couple of drinks then stopped just had more will power than me – I didn’t believe they didn’t want to pass out too.”
With more support from ESF Convergence, Louise has completed a Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector course to develop her skills as a tutor. This year (2012) Louise completed a ‘Certificate in teaching in the lifelong learning sector’ and is currently doing an assessors course and in Sept of this year went self employed as a freelance tutor. She now plans to take either a Cert Ed teaching qualification and/or a ’Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioners’ course.
She is still working for CN4C delivering courses including self assertiveness, craft, customer service and employability Skills. In May Louise was awarded the national ESF Learning Works Award during Adult Learners’ Week.
Louise added, “I feel like I am part of the world and have a purpose in life. Now I really want to go down the road of inspiring people, motivational coaching. It’s all very well becoming clean and sober but then you have to become responsible and accountable.”