Tracy Hudson

When Tracy Hudson was still in secondary school her mother became ill leaving her to take on the role of carer for her sick mother and her three sisters.

'As soon as my mother became Ill my childhood was over and school was just not important.' says Tracey.  When her mother subsequently died, Tracey's life went into freefall. At just 16 years old, she left school with no qualifications and moved around , staying with family members across South Wales.

Tracey worked in a variety of jobs, but due to a mixture of stress and the birth of her son, she has not since been able to return to paid employment.

After seeing a flyer for a 'Knowing You, knowing Your Child' taster workshop, Tracey registered for a 'Starting with Psychology Openings' course in November 2009. For Tracey, the initial taster course was 'like a breath of fresh air', and inspired her to move on to distance learning with the Open University in Wales.

Tracey has now completed her course and hopes to progress on to the OU 'Yearly years, Developing Practice' undergraduate course in October.

 'It's brilliant!' Says Tracey, 'I know what I want to do, what support is available and what's possible. I know I've just started but doing these Openings courses have really boosted my confidence and hopefully it will lead into future work that will be perfect for me and my son. He's my number one priority but I want to achieve something for myself and him and now he's in full time school I really feel like this is my time.'