Andrew Johnston, aged 46, from Stoke-on-Trent
Andrew began working in Stoke’s pottery industry when he left school and says he saw his future ‘trapped on a mundane and monotonous treadmill; unrewarding and empty’. But a chance meeting with a colleague who had been made redundant was to change his life. Andrew said “The woman told me she now had a really interesting and rewarding job working with young people and, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to change my future.”
Two days later Andrew announced to his family that he was going to return to education and that he wanted to stop spending 8 hours a day on auto pilot and do something worthwhile with his life. Dawn Casewell from Stoke Youth Services nominated Andrew for the award and said: “Having been out of education for nearly 30 years, it took a lot of courage to enrol at the local college on a counselling course and Andrew did not really know if he was up to it. However he was very successful and, when a fellow student told him about a youth work course, Andrew knew where he wanted to focus his career.”
Now a full time youth worker, Andrew has already had a promotion. Andrew said: “My learning has helped me totally change my life. I plan to continue to learn because I now know that it is a lifelong experience. I am studying for a foundation degree at Staffordshire University, something I could never of imagined I would be doing a few years ago. This pot bank worker is going to University!”
Karan Green, Chief Executive of the National Open College Network, said that Andrew was an inspiration to adults everywhere. “Over the last 25 years, the Open College Network has helped transform the lives of tens of thousands of people across the UK whose skills might otherwise not have been recognised.
“Like them, Andrew understood that learning could lead the way to a better life and has had the strength of mind and bravery to seize the opportunities available to him.”