21 May 2008

Denise Robertson Presents Awards to East Durham Achievers

Two East Durham residents are celebrating after being presented with an Aim High Network Achievement Award, by author and TV agony aunt Denise Robertson, last night at a ceremony held at Shotton Hall in Peterlee.

Amongst the 50 winners, who were at the ceremony sponsored by Acumen Development Trust (Acumen), were Andrea Roebuck, from Murton, and James Armstrong, from Haswell  who have achieved great things despite having to overcome a number of barriers.

At the age of only 16, whilst studying for her GCSEs, Andrea found a lump in her neck and was diagnosed with cancer later that year.  Despite this devastating news and then spending lots of her time in and out of hospital during her final year at school, Andrea still managed to get fantastic results in her GCSEs.

After completing her GCSEs, Andrea underwent chemotherapy treatment and in August 2006, the results from her PET scan revealed that she had successfully fought the disease and was now clear of cancer.

Andrea is now studying a Diploma in Childcare and is planning to go to university after that to study for a social work degree.  She is also looking for part time work and volunteering opportunities.

Andrea was nominated by Lorna Jennings, her Personal Careers Adviser at Connexions, who said: “I nominated Andrea for this award as I believe she is an inspiration to us all.  Despite facing adversity, Andrea’s motivation and determination to succeed gave her the strength and courage to face her difficulties and move forward.  She is a credit to herself and her family.

“I would like to take this opportunity to wish Andrea a happy, healthy and successful future.  Her commitment to overcome barriers, her patience and her resilience are all skills which will enable her to pursue her chosen career as a social worker.  Good luck.”

Andrea said: “I was very surprised to be nominated for the award, however, I am very thankful to be nominated and to all the people who helped me through having cancer.”

Having left school with no qualifications, James, 19, has now progressed with the support of Acumen Development Trust, into learning.  As well as working to improve his numeracy and literacy, he has now passed his CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) Health and Safety Certificate and his Forklift Truck Licence.

Joanne Brown, James’s Adviser at Acumen who nominated him for the award, said: “Initially James was not one hundred percent committed to helping himself and even missed some of his appointments due to various issues in his life.  He then brought a friend along to one of his appointments for support and he has never looked back since.

“James receives intensive one-to-one support and encouragement from Acumen and attends our job club regularly.  He continues to enjoy his personal progression and achieving his goals one by one.  His friendly and bubbly personality always brings a smile to the faces of everyone he meets.”

James said: “I could not have achieved what I have without the support of Acumen.  I feel that visiting the advisers has been worthwhile and I would recommend the service to my friends.”

The Aim High Network Achievement Awards Ceremony took place this week as part of the celebrations of Adult Learners’ Week.