WHAT started out as a chance for a mum-of-two to increase her knowledge has led to an accountancy degree for her.

When Fiona Donnelly joined the HND accounting course at Reid Kerr College in Paisley she saw it as a knowledge-building idea.

But her success has seen Fiona achieve both a HNC and HND. She has begun an accountancy degree at the University of the West of Scotland. And she is now a permanent staff member at Cosmic Coppers nursery while continuing her studies.

The 47-year-old from Paisley said: "After taking redundancy, I went on to work with my family and I quickly became responsible for an accounting role in the business."

She said: "Reid Kerr's training gave me an all-round experience of accounts as well as IT and with my new found knowledge and skills my workload has grown and I am now a full time valuable member of the team."

Fiona is married with two adult sons and knows how hard it can be to fit everything in.

She said: "Juggling work, studying and home life is hard, so sacrifices needed to be made along the way.

"While college was really demanding at times, the experience was worthwhile.

"As well as enhancing my skill set, I met some really nice people along the way.

"I really embraced learning again and you are never too old to go back to learning.

"For any mature student who is thinking of taking the step: go for it. You won't know till you try and if I can do it anyone can."

Fiona Donnelly was also named as the prizewinner for her course and picked up the HND Accounting student of the year award, for her achievements at Reid Kerr College.

When Fiona Donnelly joined the HND accounting course at Reid Kerr College in Paisley she saw it as a knowledge-building idea.

But her success has seen Fiona achieve both a HNC and HND. She has begun an accountancy degree at the University of the West of Scotland. And she is now a permanent staff member at Cosmic Coppers nursery while continuing her studies.

The 47-year-old from Paisley said: "After taking redundancy, I went on to work with my family and I quickly became responsible for an accounting role in the business."

She said: "Reid Kerr's training gave me an all-round experience of accounts as well as IT and with my new found knowledge and skills my workload has grown and I am now a full time valuable member of the team."

Fiona is married with two adult sons and knows how hard it can be to fit everything in.

She said: "Juggling work, studying and home life is hard, so sacrifices needed to be made along the way.

"While college was really demanding at times, the experience was worthwhile.

"As well as enhancing my skill set, I met some really nice people along the way.

"I really embraced learning again and you are never too old to go back to learning.

"For any mature student who is thinking of taking the step: go for it. You won't know till you try and if I can do it anyone can."

Fiona Donnelly was also named as the prizewinner for her course and picked up the HND Accounting student of the year award, for her achievements at Reid Kerr College.

Reid Kerr College Graduations

Business School, HNC Accounting

Robinah Acheng, Suleman Amin, Mariam Shamshad Akhtar, Anne Marie Archer, Ibrahim Butt, Lynsey Clark, Kerri Anne Cory, Louise Donegan, Lee Dunnachie, Linda Francis, Geraldine Grieve, Caroline Hutchieson, Jemma Markie, Claire Jenny Martin, John McGrath, Aneta Beata Michalkiewicz, Toni Montgomery, Helen Morrow, Secret Muchawa, Mhairi O'Neill, Karen Reid, Jennifer Robinson, John Rogers, Lisa Rooney, Catriona Stevens, Natasha Willis, Lesley Wither.

HNC Administration & Information Technology

Calum Baillie, Diane Border, David Cathcart, Karren Dianne Crisostomo, Nicola Durkin, Margaret Dyer, Jacqueline Gordon, Emma Gray, Natasha Green, Suzanne Hughes, Natalie Irvine, Nerisa Jardine, Hannah Johnston, Nicola Jones, Lynne Lang, Fiona MacKay, Colette Mackle, Lizanne McKidd, Karen Murray, Linzi O'Malley, Heather Ryce, Lianne Thomson.

HNC Business

Hira Akram, Jahangir Alam, Amandeep Chumber, Agnieszka Fras, David Hamilton, Rachel MacPherson, Angeline Muir, Wipha Phosri, Md Mijanur Rahman, Andrew Watson.

HND Accounting

Martin Alexander Campbell, Agnieszka Cegielna, Diane Coyle, Holly Crossan, Patricia Donegan, Fiona Donnelly, Joanne Dunbar, Danny Eccles, Sharon Gallagher, Lee MacNiven, Louise McBeth, Jossa Anne Millares, Mateusz Nowak, Magdalena Ozog, Craig Paton, Jemma Regan, Paul Shannon, Daniel Shields, Kathryn Stewart.

HND Administration & Information Technology

Ashleigh Bonnar, Hannah Coull, Pauline Dolan, Caroline Ingham, Anne Kerr, Shona Madden, Victoria Nicol, Richard O'Brien.

HND Business

Rachael Bentley, Robert Davies, Gail Hamilton, Uzma Ibrahim, Kirsty Elizabeth MacPherson, Anesu Maposa, Nicole McDade, Bryan McPherson, Iain Murray, Gemma Wallace, Nie Yibo.

HNC Computer Games Development

Luke Glendinning, Shane Graham, Scott Henderson, Sean McGovern, David Paton.

HNC Computing

Zonash Baig, Jonathan Bell, David Harper, Kevin Lee, David Lenihan, Jamie John McAllister, Emma McCusker, Scott Phillips, Cameron Andrew Ross, Edward Sibayan, William Steele, Gordon Unsworth.

HNC Interactive Media: Web Development

Adil Arif, James Beggs, Kyle Bolton, Abid Hussain, Steven McCabe, Jordan McLean, Connor Murray, Jordan Murray, Patryk Poblocki, Craig Tierney, Daniel Walls, Kieran White, Craig Wilson.

HND Computer Games Development

Bartosz Bryski, Stephen Carlton, Robert Clarke, Gary Forrow, Andrew Gozillon, Iain Hamilton, Jason Havelin, Shaun Margery, Jemma McSorley, Scott Sutherland, Scott Tobin, John Torrance.

HND Computing: Software Development

Uladzimir Barysiuk, Allister Ian Chivers, Noreen Devine, Sarwar Fakhruddin, James Gallacher, Neil Kelly, Gordon Ian Luke, Ismail Mukisa, Waqar-un-nisa Nabi, Elliot Pollock, Ali Musa Raza, Andrew Wetherill.

HND Computing: Technical Support

Kevin Carracher , Douglas John Clark, Calum Craik, Shaun Dobson, Lauren Elliott, Leslie Johns, John Kerr, Jamie Lodge, David Marshall, James McEwan, Donald McGeoch, Mohammed Rizwan Mehmood, Phionah Mutesi, Christopher Nicol, Kevin Thomson.

HNC Human Resource Management

Sarah Campbell, Leanne Docherty, Elizabeth Lawrie, Carol Maxwell, Nicholas Moran.

HNC Management

Maureen Baird.

SVQ Level 3 Management

Colin Hamilton, David Hosie, Tracey Houston, Michael Kelly, Gordon Laird.

SVQ Level 4 Management

Paul Bentley, Donald Glen, Diane McAughtrie, Henry Murtagh, Eileen Stevenson.

NVQ Level 4 Personnel Management

Eileen Herd.

SVQ Level 5 Management

Karen Haldane, Emma Scott.

Chartered Management Institute, Level 5 Diploma in Management & Leadership

Ramsay Muirhead.

International Executive Diploma, Entrepreneurship Award

Mohammad Hafidz Bin Rohani.