our learners – alan’s story
I first heard about Back on Track last July. I was living in a hostel after coming out of prison. I’d never been in prison before and it gave me a chance to reflect on my life and make some big changes.
Some people from Back On Track started running a weekly cookery course at the hostel where I was living. I had a chat with one of the workers about different options for taking my life forward. I’d already been doing some courses at the probation office and I said I was thinking about one day going into teaching. We discussed the possibility of voluntary work, and Angela talked through different places I could volunteer and how to go through the application process.
I ended up applying to be a volunteer in the literacy classes at Back on Track. Since September I’ve been volunteering once a week, helping provide one-to-one support with reading and writing – and I’m really enjoying it! It’s a good atmosphere and it’s good experience for my future plans. In the future I would like to train to teach English to people who speak it as a second language. This would allow me to travel and teach at the same time.