Aberystwyth Uni nursing degree to encourage Welsh speakers

Caryl James: "It would have been impossible for me to travel to a course in Swansea or anywhere else"

Students enrolled on a new nursing degree course have welcomed the opportunity to learn close to home.

On Monday, Aberystwyth University in Ceredigion welcomes 53 students to the new course which is partly in Welsh.

Health support worker Caryl James, from nearby Bow Street, said, as a single mother, studying for a degree course away from home was never an option.

"Getting a place on the course is amazing. I was really chuffed. I cried when I heard I had a place," she said.

Ms James, who also works as a phlebotomist alongside nurses at Bronglais Hospital in the town, said qualifying as a nurse had always been an ambition.

"But being a single mother, it would have been impossible for me to travel to a course in Swansea or anywhere else, so having the chance to do the course in Aberystwyth makes everything easier," she said.

"It feels like I'm stepping in to somebody else's life."

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Fellow fresher Anna Stevens, from Penrhyncoch, said studying for such a degree would have been impossible while she had been an unpaid carer for her disabled son.

But, since Philip became an adult, she has received funding to enable carers to look after him.

"This is more than just a new chapter for me. I feel like it's a new life," she said.

"It's just surreal to have the opportunity to do this, and it's on my doorstep, which is amazing."

Ms Stevens, who also has a daughter in secondary school, said becoming a nurse would be a way of repaying the community that has helped her.

"This feels like my opportunity to give back, to give to my community and to make a difference to people as well," she said.

The university has been awarded the contract by Health Education and Improvement Wales which provides support to NHS Wales' organisations, with the majority of the students drawn from across the region.

About half are Welsh speakers who will be able to study part of their degree in Welsh as part of a drive to increase the number of those speaking the language in health and care sectors.

"This is a boost for our NHS, benefitting the recruitment and retention of nurses both locally and regionally," said university vice-chancellor Prof Elizabeth Treasure.

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