Ashley Maw - Training Coordinator
Ashley Maw is the training co-ordinator at the Whoops! Child Safety Project based in Gateshead.
Q. What was your background before working for the Whoops! Child Safety Project?
A. Ashley’s background before working for Whoops! was purely corporate. She worked in a crash repair department of a motor retailer for almost 7 years, and before that her job roles were always spent in a corporate background.
Q. Please tell me about your company and the role that you play.
A. Whoops! is a project that campaigns against the unintentional injury of children. The project is part of The Children’s Foundation which is based at the RVI in Newcastle.
“We raise money to help with research to combat childhood illnesses”
As it became apparent that more children were being injured, by pure accident, in the home, it was decided that an unintentional injuries project should be set up, and that was how Whoops! came about in 2000.
Ashley’s role has just recently changed but she is now the training coordinator for all the training that goes on at the projects office in Gateshead, as well as work that takes place in the community.
Q. Why did you choose this career path?
A. Ashley described how one Friday afternoon she was sat around a table with a group of friends when they started telling each other what their ideal job would be. As Ashley described her role one of her close friends explained that she knew someone who works for a company similar to the one being described.
“About a week later the same friend came over and informed me of an opening in the organisation”
Ashley was called for an interview and put on her power point presentation. Having ‘welled up’ at the end of the presentation she was told later that day that she was successful.
Q. Have you attended any training courses that have helped you in and out of work?
A. Ashley described how she entered that time of life when she realised she was ready, her daughter was 5 and so she was able to read and study on a night time, as well as attend the courses during the day. In the two years she has worked at Whoops! Ashley has completed a first aid course, and will soon be a qualified instructor, she has a Teaching qualification, and ‘lots and lots’ of child protection training.
“I have just embarked on a Parenting / Early Years course, which has possibly been my most beneficial so far”
Q. What stood out from this course?
“The teaching qualification did give me a lot of food for thought into how I teach”
A. Ashley described how the teaching course she completed gave her insight into how learners perceive their instructors. She also now tries to put in a different type of learning in every course that she holds. Ashley mentioned that the course is still quite fresh in her mind so she is still eager to use what she learned in all her training courses.
“Why put the training to waste when I felt I got so much from it”
Q. Do you have any advice for people in a similar situation?
A. Ashley was given a very memorable message from a close friend only a week before the interview for this study took place.
“Do not feel like you can’t do it just because you have a mortgage and children”
Ashley stopped using her employment in the corporate world as a comfort blanket and started something new. Now 2 years down the line she has this back, but with a lot more vision in her work.
“Every hurdle can be just stepped over”
