A Bramley bus driver who has struggled with dyslexia since an early age, has gone the extra mile to gain new qualifications and has thus received a national award.

Ashley Pickering, a bus driver for First Leeds in Bramley, has been announced as the winner of the Festival of Learning Regional Learning for Work award (sponsored by NOCN) in the Northern region for his exceptional achievements in adult learning. This award celebrates individuals who have worked hard to improve their employment prospects through further education and lifelong learning.

At an early age, Ashley was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was socially withdrawn. His negative experiences at school had left him with no confidence or qualifications, but after starting work with First Leeds as a driver, he started to attend a variety of classes in Bramley Learning Centre. FirstGroup has several learning centres across the country working in partnership with Unite the Union; the partnership gives all FirstGroup workers access to a wealth of educational resources.

Ashley’s learning curve included maths, English and ICT and completed a variety of vocational short courses at the First Group Academy. Through the support of Mandy Harmer, from the funded learning team, Ashley was able to gain an apprenticeship in Passenger Carrying Vehicle, which is equivalent to five GCSE’s and enabled Ashley to gain his functional skills in literacy and numeracy.

He now works on the school bus run and his belief in himself means he can handle the more complex situations that arise from working with children. Thanks to his job and qualifications, Ashley, now 33, engages in social situations for the first time in his life and says that he is happy that he has something to aim for.

Dominic Goldrick, NEYH Union Learning Organiser for Unite the Union and Ashley’s nominator, said:

It took a great deal of courage for Ashley to return to education, but with the support and camaraderie from his colleagues and in particular his trade union learning representative, Barry Young, Ashley has not looked back."

Ashley said:

I feel more confident and assertive and I am enjoying the challenges learning brings."

Kevin Rowan, unionlearn Director added:

Unionlearn would like to congratulate Ashley on his award and the time and hard work he has put into learning. Ashley’s story is a very good example of the work that trade unions, in this case Unite the union, are doing every day to improve the life chances of their members – giving them opportunities to learn new skills and improve existing ones.

This not only benefits the learner and their employer, but also their family and wider communities."