A celebration of the work that colleges do to provide opportunities for people is being held this week. MARCUS BOOCOCK spoke to mature students in Notts to see how going back into education had improved their working lives.

KAREN Seymour had been out of work for years. Her employment prospects looked poor and her confidence was at a low ebb. Then she decided to enrol on a Level 1 word processing course at the West Notts College IT Centre in Mansfield Woodhouse.

Having finished this, she moved on to higher levels and took courses in Excel, Publisher and web design. Her work led to her being presented with achievement awards at the college in 2006 and 2007.

She is now back at the IT Centre, where she is working part-time as a sessional IT trainer, while doing a two-year distance learning course with Sheffield Hallam for a BSc Hons degree in applied computing.

Karen, 44, is one of thousands of examples of how adult college courses are helping people increase their employability.

They are being celebrated with Colleges Week, which began on Monday.

Karen said: "Taking up learning in my adult life totally changed me. It opened up so many doors for me. I came from a family where I wasn't expected to learn very much after school, so I went straight to work. I now have a husband and father who are so proud of my achievements."

Karen, who lives in Mansfield, hopes to become a teacher. She said: "It's my passion. I enjoy being able to help people, just like I was in my early days of learning."

Kelly Prothero's job prospects didn't look very good after she divorced. But the 27-year-old mum-of-three enrolled on a level 1 diploma course in painting and decorating at West Notts College. She said: "Beginning this course has already lifted my spirits. Friends remark to me that they can see the spring back in my step, as I love going to college. It really was a big step for me, having been out of education and employment for eight years."

After she completes her current course, Kelly, of Selston, is planning to take a Level 2 qualification. She hopes to start her own business one day.

Like Karen and Kelly, Michael Chantler is reaping the rewards of going back into education. Michael, 37, who has two sons – one with autism and another with ADHD – had been in mechanical engineering but decided on a career change after getting divorced.

He enrolled on an IT Practitioners BTEC National Diploma course at New College Nottingham and, as part of that, began working with the local Phoenix Kickboxing School to help with its software and hardware maintenance.

As a result, he took up kickboxing as a hobby and as a way of improving his health, since he suffers from diabetes. He is now in the Great Britain kickboxing team.

New College Nottingham has been marking Colleges Week with a series of events. On Monday, Japanese video games designer Keita Takahashi gave a presentation about the industry to media and IT students, and yesterday a group of construction students volunteered to help renovate Hyson Green Youth Club.

marcus.boocock@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk