News

WOMEN'STEC student celebrates getting her Joinery Level 3 qualification

Picking up joinery tools nearly a decade ago totally changed the life of one North Belfast mum and her three children.

Now Angela Harper is celebrating getting her Joinery Level 3 qualification - the highest level possible - at this year's WOMEN'STEC Awards Ceremony.

Nine years ago, Angela was going through a bad divorce and through Women's Aid she attended a confidence boosting class in joinery.

"I literally could not afford to get anything done in the house so it was a matter of practicality that I learned joinery, plumbing and electrical skills. Joinery was the first thing that I did and I just loved being able to create something beautiful from wood," she said.

"I had gotten married straight out of school and I had no qualifications at all and felt useless," she said. But now the transformation is amazing. "I feel like I can achieve anything and so do my children," she said.

At the time of her divorce, the kids were 11, 8 and 6 and she feels that if things had stayed as they were, their future would have been bleak. "Now one is at university studying to be a teacher, another is doing 'A' levels and the youngest really wants to work with his hands - probably doing something like auto mechanics. They see what I have done and they feel like, if mum can do it, then so can I. "It's totally inspired them to go for what they want," she said.

Her tutor from WOMEN'STEC, Helen Crickard, explains that Angela's story typifies the effect when a woman is given a second chance at education.

"She not only raised her aspirations, she raised those of her children by taking one step nine years ago to attend a short course. Sometimes people don't realise the impact of a short course held in a women's centre. It's really a springboard for women to return to education and ultimately to work."

On June 19, Angela and 150 other women will be presented with awards for the courses that they have completed this year. WOMEN'STEC is the largest quality provider of training for women in non-traditional skills in Northern Ireland.

Based in Belfast, the organisation enables women to return to employment in non-traditional sectors and contributes to reducing the chronic skills shortage in the Construction and ICT industries.

TEC stands for Training, Enterprise and Childcare, as the organisation provides such valuable facilities to women who are socially and economically disadvantaged, ultimately offering them new career and life perspectives.

For more information on WOMEN'STEC go to www.womenstec.com or telephone (028) 9074 9810

Back to News

161 - 163 Duncairn Gardens Belfast BT15 2GE
T (028) 9074 9810) F (028) 9035 2888 E admin@womenstec.com - Location Map