Adult learners award for first-class Darren
Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:22:00 BST
Darren Weaver, who has just graduated from the Youth and Community Work BA(Hons) course with a first class degree, has been confirmed as a Highly Commended Regional Award Winner in Adult Learners Week in the Yorkshire and Humber Region.
Amanda Vickers, Regional Adult Learners Week Co-ordinator, said that this ‘reflects the hard work and achievements you have put into your learning, and the barriers you have overcome in doing so’.
He is due to attend the regional awards ceremony at the Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University on Thursday 19 May 2011.
The citation reads;
‘Darren Weaver has achieved a first class honours degree in Youth and Community Work at the University of Huddersfield in June 2010, aged forty. Darren left school at 16 with a collection of CSEs and became a mechanic. He then worked at a foundry at a works situated opposite what was then called the Huddersfield Polytechnic. Darren often watched people his own age studying at the Poly, and envied their lifestyle.
Alongside his paid work, Darren got involved in refereeing and then coaching children’s football. He became concerned about the over-coaching of children and the highly competitive ethos of the game, and the behaviour of parents on touchlines. Talking to a fellow volunteer, he found out about the profession of youth work and the course at the University of Huddersfield.
During his second year, as well as continuing his full time degree course, which included a work placement, Darren achieved his NVQ3 in Health and Social Care. In his final year at university, Darren’s dissertation gave him the chance to return to the topic of children and competitive football. He interviewed the Minister for Sport and conducted focus groups with sixty children.
As a qualified Youth and Community worker Darren has the opportunity to positively affect the lives of many hundreds of young people, through football games, motorcycle training, welding and mechanical skills training, youth clubs, and as a bank worker in residential children’s homes. He says ‘Every young person I have encountered has been encouraged to strive forward in their personal development to become good citizens within their communities.’’
For link to information about the award, see www.involveyorkshirehumber.org.uk
