Two years ago I had had 24 happy years as a postman and then retired on ill health grounds. All the time I was working, I bluffed my way through spelling and writing but had never really had much trouble with reading.

Whenever I had any letters to write or forms to fill in my wife would always do them for me. Therefore, when I was retired and had lots of time on my hands my wife suggested I went back to college and learned how to spell and write.

It took me quite a long time to make my mind up about going back to education. For some time I had to do a bit of digging around to find out what to do. This was a very embarrassing thing for me. After a while I plucked up the courage and went to Hereford College and asked. There was not really much to worry about as there were a lot of people in the same situation as myself. Things were made much easer by talking to someone about the problem and within a few days I got started in college.

After spending about 6 months at Hereford College we decided to move up to Prestatyn to retire. Now I have ended up in Rhyl College to carry on with my education. After being here for 2 terms my writing and spelling has improved a lot, but still there is more room for improvement.

Now I am not frightened of having a go at writing letters and filling in forms. I am enjoying my time in college where I have made lots of new friends and have had lots of support from tutors and staff. I would now like to carry on at college for as long as possible to improve more.