Debbie Rivers, a Cambridge Regional College work-based learner has secured the Greensleeves Excellence in Dementia Care 2020 Award.

A woman who studied at a Huntingdon College, has won an award for her excellence in dementia care.

Debbie Rivers, a Cambridge Regional College work-based learner has secured the Greensleeves Excellence in Dementia Care 2020 Award.

Upon leaving Ramsey Abbey, Debbie Rivers enrolled with Huntingdon College to study care and shortly after, entered a career in the care industry.

Some years later, while working as a care assistant in a local care home, Debbie was given the opportunity to study for her Level 3 Award in Health and Social Care and subsequently set about returning to learning for the first time since leaving Huntingdon College at the age of 17.

After some early disruptions to her learning, Debbie’s employers transferred her studies to Cambridge Regional College and it soon became clear that it would be the start of a very successful learning journey.

Debbie describes returning to learning as a daunting prospect as she had little faith in her English and maths skills, with these fears being so strong that she doubted her ability to produce the required written work to complete the course.

After raising her concerns with her tutor, Debbie discovered that she had access to all the help she needed to succeed, “I was honestly surprised how supportive my tutor was and could not believe the encouragement I was given. My tutor was fabulous, we worked through everything together and as a result, I achieved better English and maths results than expected, passing my exams first time.”

Once again, Debbie found that her studies were to be interrupted, this time by a global pandemic that saw the college go into lockdown along with the rest of the country. Debbie explains how she has continued with her learning in spite of these hurdles.

She said: “I am really enjoying my Level 4 studies, although I am missing that face-to-face contact with my tutor.”

Alongside her studies, Debbie has also experienced success in her career, progressing to a senior position, and earlier this year, discovering that she had been nominated for the Greensleeves Excellence in Dementia Care 2020 Award. In July, in a live virtual ceremony with other Greensleeves nominees.