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Lilian gets into reading - and writing
Kath Morgan, a Skills for Life tutor who ran the Six Book Challenge very successfully at Bolton Community College in 2009 with students and employees from Warburtons Bakery, introduced us to one of her completers Lilian Vickers.
"Because I'm dyslexic, I've always had trouble with my spelling and writing. But I have a big family, I held down two jobs, and life was always busy, so I never really had the chance to do anything about it. When I heard about the Challenge I thought this is something I can do for me. There was absolutely no pressure on us to do it, or to have to finish, and that was important to me, because at the back of my mind I was thinking 'Oh no, what if I fail?'
At first I did find it a bit hard to get back into the habit of reading, but even if you just take five or ten minutes, and even if you are just reading one or two pages each time, you do get back into it. When I completed the Challenge I felt proud of myself. I thought 'Yes I've done it!' I enjoyed using my voucher at the coffee shop, and I enjoyed going to the presentation evening we had, where I got my certificate.
I'm going to be doing the Six Book Challenge again this year - it starts up again in a couple of week and I can't wait!
At the end of the Challenge, Kath suggested that I have a go at creative writing classes. I've always made up stories in my head but I've never had the confidence before to write them up. But I've started writing. Not to show anyone, but I write all sorts of things, like perhaps a little poem that might come to me. I've even started to write a book. It feels like I'm seeing things with a new pair of eyes."
