{"id":26365,"date":"2024-12-03T12:26:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T12:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/?p=26365"},"modified":"2024-12-03T12:30:40","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T12:30:40","slug":"from-ou-assignment-to-award-winning-community-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/education-languages-health\/from-ou-assignment-to-award-winning-community-project\/","title":{"rendered":"From OU assignment to award-winning community project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel, 42, from Stockport, used her Youth Studies degree<\/a> from The Open University (OU) to support hundreds of families in her local community. After changing careers from sales to social justice, Rachel is now the founder of the award-winning Cherry Tree Project<\/a>, which developed from an idea for one of her assignments into a successful social enterprise.<\/p>\n

Rachel shares how the OU gave her much more than just a qualification \u2013 it gave her the confidence and skills to pursue a fulfilling career.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool was great fun, study less so,\u201d recalls Rachel. \u201cI just didn\u2019t know what I wanted to do in life, so I had no fire in my belly. I was a minimum effort, straight C student whose teachers would say \u2018doesn\u2019t live up to her potential\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on to further education after school but quickly quit to start a sales role. It wasn\u2019t until I was on maternity leave with my son that I decided to return to education with a health and social care course at my local college.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, I had found my calling. I knew that this was the industry I wanted to work in, but I needed a degree to take me a step further.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a chance encounter with a lady on the bus that introduced me to the OU. She told me that I could get a degree without A Levels and that her sister was a youth worker after completing a degree with the OU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putting plans in place<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This is where Rachel\u2019s OU journey began, and because of the OU\u2019s flexibility, she could juggle her caring responsibilities and volunteer roles alongside her studies.<\/p>\n

\"A

Rachel with some of the young adults from Cherry Tree Project<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe idea for the Cherry Tree Project started as part of an assignment I was completing in my second year of study. We had to plan a project for our local area and I wanted to do something to help the kids on my estate. I\u2019d put in so much work into the project that I thought I might as well give it a go in real life!<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started as a cooking project during the pandemic. We would deliver the ingredients to families in need and then demonstrate how to make a meal on social media. In just a year, we had over 150 families joining us every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the young people that we were supporting then volunteered to help with the project. Together, we launched a food bank, which fed a further 150 families a week.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause we were so busy during COVID, the Council offered us use of a building for free, which was an absolute game changer. With a permanent base, we grew from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus this year is the launch of a school uniform scheme, where we\u2019re using high-quality pre-loved items to provide families on low-income with complete school uniforms for their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also now the lead at the Stockport Food Network, which provides provisions for all the food banks in Stockport and have just been elected as Councillor for Romiley and Bredbury Green. In my new position, I hope to fix some of the root causes of issues that are impacting families in my area.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than just a degree<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Through her degree, Rachel gained vital skills that she could put into practice immediately. This meant she could begin helping others long before she graduated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OU gave me confidence in my abilities, which I had never got from school. It just wasn\u2019t a format that worked for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe OU also taught me how to learn. No one had ever taken the time to show me different learning styles and which might suit me best. I was finally able to retain information and get pleasure from learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m now working in a role where I\u2019m fulfilled. My actions are changing people\u2019s lives for the better, and although I\u2019m incredibly busy, it\u2019s 100% joyful.<\/p>\n

Embrace the future<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rachel has words of wisdom for those considering studying so that they can change careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never too late to take the leap and start following your passions. Whether it\u2019s supporting your community or something else, there\u2019s so much that we can each bring to the table, we just need to find the place where we thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy message to anyone thinking about studying with the OU would be \u2018do it\u2019. I never felt like people had the highest expectations for me, but now I\u2019ve proved it to myself and everyone else. I know my worth and am a much happier and more passionate individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be the person you\u2019ve always wanted to be with a qualification from the OU. <\/strong>Register before 9 January 2025<\/strong><\/a> for courses starting in February.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rachel, 42, from Stockport, used her Youth Studies degree from The Open University (OU) to support hundreds of families in her local community. After changing careers from sales to social justice, Rachel is now the founder of the award-winning Cherry Tree Project, which developed from an idea for one of her assignments into a successful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":26366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,18],"tags":[1525,1640],"class_list":["post-26365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-languages-health","category-student-stories","tag-news-home","tag-ou-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26369,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26365\/revisions\/26369"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}