Carl Manning
Posted : 26th November 2011
Carl Manning, 53 from Birmingham, left school at 15 with no qualifications after an unhappy time at secondary school. Carl worked all his life either as a butcher or in the meat industry – he says, “I only ever did manual work. Because of my bad experience at school I thought I was too stupid to do anything else.”
It was a serious road accident in 2007 that proved to be a turning point in Carl’s life. After being hit by a vehicle Carl suffered, amongst other injuries, a broken neck and was told he may never walk again. Fortunately this scenario did not happen, but the lasting physical effects were great enough that Carl was left to look for a change in career, away from manual work.
Carl decided to enrol on ICT courses at Fircroft after hearing about the College via Birmingham City Council. He’s taken four courses so far and has definitely ‘caught the learning bug’! “I cannot emphasise enough how coming to Fircroft has changed my way of thinking. It’s been a new beginning for me and I’m ‘learning to learn’ again. You think you’re too old but you’re never too old.”
Carl is now enrolling on more courses at Fircroft, including maths and English courses, and after that he hopes to find employment in a position which will help him give something back to the community.
