Mal goes the distance

Mal Morris left grammar school in 1967 with just a handful of O-Levels. But 33 years later, and despite his many medical conditions, Mal decided to return to learning.

And now he's scooped the Niace Dysgu Cymru Distance Learner of the Year Award, presented by Rob Humphries, Director of the OU in Wales, at a ceremony in Bangor University.

Beginning with an Open University course in Health and Social Care in 2000, Mal (pictured above) worked his way towards an honours degree, which he finally achieved in 2005.

Mal's appetite for learning and encouraging others to learn saw him become heavily involved in The Open University Students' Association, including assisting students with additional needs at summer schools throughout the UK. He also studied lip reading for the deaf at Manchester Metropolitan University, enabling him to teach deaf adults at locations throughout North Wales. To further his voluntary work, Mal also took a course in Voluntary Management with Lampeter University.

Mal's nominator for the Distance Learner of the Year Award, part of the Inspire Awards 2009, Gerald Venables believes that the remarkable thing about Mal is that he didn't even embark on any study whatsoever until the year 2000, and combined with all his voluntary work it's amazing he has coped with so many things going on in his life at the same time.

Mal continues to rack up the honours gaining a Volunteer of the Year in Wrexham Award and The Open University Alumni Volunteer of the Year Award.

For Mal the message is simple: "There is so much to gain by returning to learning and for many it helps them to turn the corner and start a new life, get a new job and make many new friends along the way. To anyone considering starting a new course, I say go for it, it's never too late to learn!"

He adds: "As you can imagine, I was absolutely over the moon'to receive this award, not only because it was the award for Wales, but it was also the fact that I won it in the same year as the OU's 40th birthday. Since winning the award I have been in various newspapers, and on the local radio station, and as always, singing the praises of the OU in Wales."