Exploring new route’s into Social Work with The Open University

We Caught Up With Penumbra Mental Health Worker Jason Alford To Explore What The OU Had To Offer.

After his wife started studying social work, Jason Alford thought perhaps it would be the right move for him too.  It made sense to build on his work in the voluntary sector.   

“I am a support worker in mental health, and I had thought for quite a while of doing something a bit different, but within the same sort of field,” explains Jason.  “My wife is doing social work full-time at another university, and I thought it sounded really interesting.”

With only one income to support them both, Jason knew full-time study wasn’t an option, but when he picked up a newspaper one day, he realised there was another way to open the door to a new career as a social worker. 

“One of the papers had a leaflet about the OU in it,” he says.  “So I checked the website and I thought ‘that sounds do-able’.  Also a friend of mine had done a course a couple of years ago, and he said the help you get and the online stuff were amazing.  Basically my wife is not working because she is doing the two year course.  I have to keep earning the money, so the OU was perfect.” 

Jason, 38, decided to sign up for Foundations for Social Work Practice (KYJ113), which introduces students to social work standards and codes of practice that are relevant across the UK.

Apart from attending workshops around once a month in Perth, Jason is able to do almost all his studying at home.  Having achieved SVQ Level 3 through his work, Jason has some recent experience of studying and says he is managing to balance work with his course commitments.

“I am working in the evenings and on days off,” he says.  “It’s not as bad as it sounds – you can do a couple of hours a night and then four or five hours at the weekend.  You need to keep on top of things, but I like the flexibility. 

“You are working as part of a group and also at your own pace.  If you can’t do any work on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday then it’s not rigid, you can catch up.” 

Jason – and his wife – have been very impressed by the course materials and the resources available on The Open University website.

“My wife loves the course materials and she wishes I had started at the same time as her because she has been using them,” he laughs.  “The OU library is also better.

“The thing that sells it for me is the StudentHome page on the OU site.  I can go into discussions with my classmates, my tutors are very easy to get in contact with by email or phone and it makes a hell of a difference.  It’s not like I am doing it on my own and that’s what I thought it would be like – me sitting in a room by myself tapping on a keyboard.”

Jason has benefited from funding towards his studies through an Individual Learning Account (ILA). “I got £200 off the course fees which was handy,” he says.  “Every little helps.”

Jason works for the charity Penumbra, looking after people with mental health problems who are in supported accommodation.  His adds that his move into the voluntary sector came after many years in a completely different career.

“I came in to it when I was 30, after years working in the leisure industry.  I was bored and looking for a break and my mother-in-law asked if I had ever thought about being a carer?

“I thought I could do it for a year while I was looking for other work, and I did it for two years and loved it. There is such a variety – even though you have got a lot of set routine, every day is different.”