Distance learning

Sheila Evans
Ex-Corporal Sheila Evans was serving as a Royal Logistic Corps chef before she injured her back on a Combat Fitness Test at Pirbright. Unable to continue with her trade, her last two years in the Army were spent undergoing medical rehabilitation and working in administration in a training unit.

Before being medically discharged, she attended a Career Transition Workshop - 'very helpful; I learned about networking' - and two computer courses, Computer Literacy and Information Technology, and Integrated Business Technology Level 2. She already had City & Guilds 7061 in catering, first aid and food hygiene qualifications.

Her main effort, however, was directed at a distance learning Intermediate Food Hygiene course with J&M Training Consultancy. She took this over two and a half months, using the post and the phone to study, ask, questions, answer mock exam questions and receive feedback. Evans now has plans to complete the distance learning Business Management course she started a while ago and is urging her husband, a Welsh Guards Company Sergeant Major training for a Northern Ireland tour between fire-fighting duties, to study for CLAIT and IBT2 the same way.

She has now received a lump sum and has a small Service pension because of her injury, and has changed job from being a cook at a glass plant catering for 180 people. With a young baby, she wanted to work part-time and is now a catering manager in a care home with 21 residents on a variety of diets that include diabetic, low-sugar and low-fat regimes. She works four days on, four off, and thoroughly enjoys being responsible for ordering ingredients, quality, cleanliness, and preparing food to the right specification from breakfast to supper.

Evans sees distance learning as her best way of learning as her family grows. 'You have to discipline yourself, but you can take as long as you want. It's ideal.' Her future plans include training to become a teacher of catering and hygiene, and that will probably mean a great deal more studying in the future.

She is just one of many thousands of people currently serving in the Armed Forces who combine distance learning with a full-time and demanding career. Even more take courses after they have left as part of their personal development or to improve their career prospects. Others learn to be able to change careers, to prepare themselves for promotions or simply to enjoy a hobby or interest.