Hairdresser finds roots in learning

It was when one of her fellow students remarked that Marie Ledgeway "used to be a hairdresser" that she realised the enormous change she had made to her life.

After leaving the former Bar Convent School at 16, Marie, now 39, spent more than 20 years running her own hairdressing business.

Then, two years ago, a series of events that included the tragic deaths of her brother and father, saw her taking a new path, and she is now at the end of her first year on a theology degree course at the College of Ripon and York St John.

Today, Marie says she is delighted with her decision and will be attending a special Educating Rita event next week to talk about her experiences.

The film, which stars Julie Walters as a hairdresser-turned-student, will be shown at the City Screen Cinema, and would-be students are invited along to chat to Marie and friends afterwards.

Marie said: "I couldn't wait to leave school at 16 and start earning some money but you realise as you get older that money isn't everything."

She said it was the birth of her fourth child, Conor, now three, which started her thinking about a change.

"I didn't want to spend the next 20 years in hairdressing. It gets harder as you get older - it's hard work being on your feet all day."

Marie was also a governor at Our Lady's RC Primary School in Acomb where her middle son, Liam, was at school.

"I had an insight into school life and thought I would like to do teaching, but I knew that unless I got a degree I couldn't teach." Then in April 1999, the whole family's life was turned upside down when Marie's brother Gerry Davitt, and her father Larry Davitt, died in an aircraft accident.

Marie and husband John, and their four children Megan, now 16, Brendan, 13, Liam, ten and Conor, sold the business and moved in with Marie's mother Nellie in Heworth, for a year.

Last summer a house came up for sale a few minutes away in Heworth and the family moved in. Meanwhile, Marie had seen an advert for courses at St John's.

"When I saw the advert I thought I would love to go back into education but I was hesitant."

But after going along to an open day last May, she wrote an entrance essay in June which won her a place on the course, and she started in September.

"I felt very apprehensive. I was so worried that I would be the oldest on the course and whether I would be able to manage it," she said.

"I went there feeling I was always going to be the last in the class because that's how I felt at school, but I'm more or less holding my own."

Marie said she found that her fellow students ranged from 18-year-olds to a retired headmistress, and included many people with similar backgrounds to her own.

She spends three days at college and the rest of the week is devoted to her own work, which sometimes goes on through the night, when the children are in bed and John is out at work on the night shift for the Royal Mail at Leeman Road.

She said: "I usually start work at 9pm or 10pm, and sometimes when I've had a big piece of work to hand in John has come back from work at 6am and I'm still sat at the computer."

She said she would like to thank John, her children and her mum for all their support.

"It's much more far-reaching than I ever imagined it would be. But it's given me more confidence. Even though I was in business it's different when you're going back into a school environment.

"I feel more alive somehow. This has been a complete change of direction for me. I feel more fulfilled, not because I ever regretted doing hairdressing - I had some great staff working for me. I was just ready to move on.

"I think life's short and you only get one chance."

The screening of Educating Rita, to be followed by a buffet, is free, and runs from 10am until 1pm next Wednesday, at City Screen. York Learning Festival, run by Learning City York, a partnership of different organisations, starts on Saturday. For more information, telephone Future Prospects on 0800 834239.