Striving For Success Award - Gail Wood

If someone had told Gail Wood she would one day walk on stage to meet a TV celebrity, receive a prestigious national award and make a speech of thanks in front of a VIP audience, she would never have believed them.

Gail had been stuck in a rut doing basic skills courses at Solihull College where she'd been for some 15 years, but she couldn't see a way forward. Her luck changed two years ago, when Shaw Trust found her a Work Preparation placement in the cake shop at Morrisons, Solihull.

"It was a complete shock to win. I was absolutely gob-smacked," said Gail, who has a learning disability and has turned her life around. "It feels great to be given these awards not just a regional one but now a national one too. I feel really proud of myself. I never believed I could win something like this."

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