A huge congratulations to our tutor Fred Brown for receiving the Spirit of Education award at the Spirit of NI Awards.
A huge congratulations to our tutor Fred Brown for receiving the Spirit of Education award at the Spirit of NI Awards. The awards ceremony was celebrated alongside some of Northern Ireland’s most famous faces, celebrating local heroes and inspirational people and their extraordinary achievements.
Fred has been a tutor for Include Youth for an incredible 25 years, supporting young people, who haven’t had positive school experiences. Fred supports them to gain qualifications to further development themselves and springboard into training or employment. He does this effortlessly and selflessly, always prioritising the needs of the young people. Fred teaches literacy, numeracy and ICT and such is his commitment to the young people, he is now learning Arabic.
At 75, Fred became an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tutor after completing a TEFL course. Besides teaching literacy and numeracy, he now leads two ESOL classes weekly. Recently, he took his Ballymena ESOL students to the local library to encourage reading, significantly boosting their English skills.
From April 2022-March 2023, an incredible 169 qualifications were gained by 130 young people and Fred played a massive role, which can be a massive springboard for young people for further training, education or employment.
“My English tutor Fred constantly reminded me of my capabilities. He spurred me on in my work and always praised me when I doubted myself. I thought it would be difficult to take advice and bond with a new teacher in a new setting, but he was so warm and welcoming with me and everyone else. He made jokes and just brought a great atmosphere to the class; I remember wanting to learn because I felt as if someone else truly cared about my education and learning. I made it a priority to attend classes and keep going as Fred had made me feel like all my efforts were worth it and I finally felt as if putting in hard work would get me to bigger and better places. ”
“He believed in me when I didn't believe in myself!”
