IN September 2003 I left my job as a machine operator after 15 years to pursue my ambition of becoming a teacher.

Twelve months before leaving I began a GCSE course studying English language and literature in an effort to see how well I would adjust to the pressures full time education brings. After successfully completing the GCSEs I enrolled on the Access course which I passed, qualifying me for entry to a degree course.

Although I only spent two years at Blackburn College, the help and support I received as an adult returning to the education system helped instil confidence in my academic abilities, which had deserted me by the time I had left school at 16.

When I first re-entered the classroom in 2003 I was surprised by the number of people who had returned to college in an effort to change their lives for the better.

The majority of those people who I studied with have gone on to further education at the University of Central Lancashire, where I am currently into the second year of a degree course, or Blackburn College.

I find it difficult to comprehend the reasoning behind the current rounds of cuts to the adult education facilities in East Lancashire.

The people responsible for these cuts need to remember that these courses actually do work. I, and many others like me, are proof of this.

ANDREW HENDERSON, Fielding Crescent, Blackburn.