The beginnings of the project

All good stories have similar ingredients. Human interest, drama, comedy, pathos; and especially a hero or heroine who through sheer courage and determination battles against overwhelming odds to win the day.

I like to think that adults with Basic Skills difficulties are heroes and heroines in their own right. They are people whose learning ambitions seem almost insurmountable to them, yet so simple to those of us who take reading, writing and numeracy for granted.

In 2001 I received a small grant from the Lottery Millennium Award to write a book that would feature ordinary Basic Skills learners and recount their extraordinary lives coping with such difficulties.

Deciding the format

I wanted the book to be informative but also to be used as a teaching aid that would inspire other adults to start their own learning journeys; to take the first difficult step.

I eventually settled on a format that included stories from the perspective of learners, parents, a college tutor and an employer. (N.B. Sadly the latter was not to be accomplished, but employers do have a story to tell.)

Laying the ground rules

I imposed my own strict ground rules:

• The college tutor known to the learners would make the first approach and ensure they understood what I wanted.
• Learners had the absolute right to change their minds at any time and were to be given frequent opportunities to do so.
• Interview confidentiality was guaranteed, anonymity protected and names changed if requested.
• Photos were to be 'morphed' through software.
• Once written the stories would be read back to the learners- or read by them- and approved before publishing.
• The Millennium Award rules required that learners signed a document allowing their stories to be placed in the public domain and this needed careful explanation and confirmation before completion.
• Finally, the learners were to be aware that the book was to be developed as a teaching resource for their peer group, and that their contributions would benefit others.

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