Education support for serving army families

Thanks to a learning grant from Oxfordshire County Council, serving soldiers’ families are being supported through a flexible education programme at Abingdon & Witney College. The families are stationed at Dalton Barracks, home of the Royal Logistics Corps, for a minimum of 3 years and most have young families.  The regiments are often away on tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan which can last up to 9 months.

Captain Geoff Nuzum, (Regimental Careers Management Officer): “It is fantastic to be able to offer this additional service to the families of our soldiers. There is a great deal of public support in Abingdon for our troops and the war effort in general, but the families who are left behind can sometimes be overlooked.  This is one of a number of services we offer to the families of our soldiers, to help them integrate with, and feel part of, the local community. The enthusiasm of these ladies is infectious and I’m sure they will be encouraging more and more of their friends to sign up for courses next term.”

More than 60 ladies signed up on the spot, at a special enrolment evening held at the Barracks, to learn Book-Keeping, First Aid and ESOL (English for speakers of other languages). 

Caroline Craft, Development Manager at Abingdon & Witney College said: “I’m delighted that these courses have been so popular. It’s amazing to see today how far the students have progressed in just a few weeks, and how they’ve grown in confidence since I first met them at the enrolment evening. ”

Book-keeping student Anupama Gurung said: “If it wasn’t for the support of the staff at Dalton Barracks we wouldn’t be doing any of these courses. I’ve met so many interesting people from all over the world that I probably would never have met otherwise. I would like to retrain as an Accountant, so I’ve found the Book-Keeping course really useful. I’m going to continue with the next level next term.”

Beena Gurung, an ESOL student added: “The teachers are great and very patient with us. If courses continue to be offered then I’ll be signing up for them – I’ve completed 4 so far and want to continue with ESOL and Book-Keeping next term.”