GOING back to the classroom after 30 years has seen one Blackburn woman land a top job guiding Blackburn’s young people.

Grandmother-of-two Jane Partington is to lead Blackburn Youth Zone’s mentoring scheme after getting her degree with Blackburn College.

Jane, 49, studied a foundation degree in Counselling, Coaching and Mentoring at the college’s University Centre, validated by Lancaster University.

Getting her degree meant summoning up the courage to go back into the classroom for the first time since she was 16.

She was already working in a mentoring and counselling role for Blackburn with Darwen Council when she undertook her degree and has now landed a promotion.

Jane will now lead mentoring at Blackburn’s £6million Youth Zone in Jubilee Street.

The zone, which caters to around 20 per cent of Blackburn’s young population, offers a mentoring scheme that allows young people to access help and advice from volunteer adults and peers.

Jane, who lives in Livesey, said: “I was worried about going back into education. The last time I was in that kind of environment I was a teenager at St Wilfrid’s. Doing assignments and sitting in a lecture theatre was a shock to the system. I soon got used to it and I made a lot of friends on my course — a lot quite a bit younger than me.”

The mum-of-two had already played a major role in setting up the mentoring scheme at the youth project, and has now been asked to lead the scheme.

Jane undertook her degree in order to back up her knowledge with a qualification. She took up a mentoring role in her jobs in 2007 after working in various positions such as Trade Union Office Manager and Foster and Adoption Recruitment Officer before that. She said: “It was about getting a qualification to back up what I knew and did already. It was my way of acknowledging what I knew was right, even though I was already putting it into practice.

“It was intensive and tough juggling a full-time job and my family, but I was allowed one day off a week for my course and it worked for me.”