Life after the pit

Only five months after Paul Clegg embarked upon what he had expected to be a lifetime career in the mining industry, the Government announced its plans for massive mine closure that was eventually to cost the loss of more than 180,000 jobs. For Paul this marked the start of 21 years of keeping ahead of a series of events that was inevitably to catch up with him, and leave him feeling numb, uncertain and as if no-one cared.

Also attending the NVQ Award Ceremony were: Cllr John Dennis, Chair of NY County Council, Cllr Chris Pearson, Chair of Selby District Council, Tim Hjillier, Edexcel, Sue Maggott, Learning & Skills Council.

But, through guidance, Paul came to realise that mining was not the ‘be all and end all’, that many of the skills he had were transferable, and that he had, in fact, the perfect opportunity to develop these skills through further training whilst still working, and to acquire the qualifications and confidence that would help him to face life after the pit.

Now, with a string of qualifications under his belt, 38 year-old Paul, from Pilley Green, Tankersley, near Barnsley, is employed as Health and Safety Programme Co-ordinator with the Services to Business arm of Wakefield College and is today himself offering the advice and guidance which helped him achieve a new career.

Paul says, “I left school in 1983 and went to work in the surveyors department of the Kinsley Drift Mine, near Hemsworth, but only five months later, the Government’s announcement sparked off industrial action which lasted for a year. The rest, as they say, is history.

“When the closure was announced the uncertainty was dreadful. What was going to happen, when was it going to happen, what was I going to do, how was I going to look after my young family, all I knew was that I was to be thrown onto the scrap heap. It felt like the end of the world.

“The Kinsley mine eventually closed in 1986 and I transferred to the survey department at Sharlston Colliery, which in turn was also closed, in 1993. That closure resulted in me transferring to Wistow mine, part of the state-of-the-art Selby Complex, where in 2000 I was promoted to Assistant Geotechnical Engineer. Then in 2002 the Selby closure was announced with the direct loss of 2500 jobs.

“The Selby Task Force was assembled to help the workforce gain training to help open up other employment opportunities. The Task Force comprised of Wakefield College, Job Centre Plus, Guidance Services, Yorkshire Forward, Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Skillsbuilder, Learning and Skills Council and many others.

“I was due to be made redundant in 2003 but the opportunity arose to transfer to the Riccall mine as Training Officer for the period until that mine was to be closed 5 months later. There I became an active member of an advice team, made up of key mine representatives and guidance services employees, with the role of providing information and guidance to employees on training and employment opportunities.

“So that I could deliver a professional service, I did an NVQ Level 2 Information Advice and Guidance course, then the Level 3, and as the closure of Riccall was extended to September 2004, I also did more training to enhance my chances of employment outside of the mining industry.”

Paul now has an impressive array of qualifications, which have led him to his current employment with Wakefield College, where, he says, his confidence is slowly growing. “I would say to anyone facing a similar situation, in any walk of life, that learning as an adult gives you the opportunity to use your existing knowledge and experience to build a new career.

“It helps to build confidence and give you the courage to take on new and untried subjects. Once you get involved in adult learning, it becomes a habit which you find you enjoy and don’t want to give up. My learning experiences have broadened my outlook in areas of both work and pleasure.

Paul yesterday attended an NVQ Awards Ceremony at the Riccall Regen Centre in Selby, where Selby MP John Grogan talked to those receiving the NVQ Information & Guidance Awards.

The MP said, “It is appropriate that this celebration is taking place here because this is where a lot of the talks between the miners and the Guidance Services and their partners took place. There was a lot of conflict, a lot of different opinions, but one thing that became clear very early on was that if the guidance was going to work it was absolutely essential that the miners were at the heart of it, giving the advice and the guidance.

“The hundreds of men that were involved were far more likely to listen to their colleagues than to anyone else. It was a very progressive decision to train the miners themselves to offer guidance, and today is a tremendous accolade to that partnership, and to the qualities of the individual’s concerned, who could not have imagined that they would learn these skills and be working in this area. That today, very few former miners are claiming job seekers’ allowance, is a great tribute to all the people in this room and to what they have achieved, for themselves and for the communities that they represent.

ENDS