Aspiration Awards 2025: Against All Odds highly commended - Theresa Jackson

Designed to recognise learners who have overcome difficult personal circumstances to succeed in their studies, the Against All Odds award is very special and always attracts a huge volume of nominations. Highly commended in this year’s award is Theresa Jackson, a disabilities rights champion who is using her lived experience and education to inspire others.  

Overcoming adversity 

Having initially completed a Level 1 distance learning Health and Social Care qualification with Nescot College, Theresa soon made it known that she wanted to enhance her skills and knowledge even further. 

The 26-year-old had previously experienced negativity from training providers who wouldn’t take her on as a student, and this has been something she’s experienced many times due to her communication limitations. 

Despite her previous setbacks, Theresa actively sought to enrol on an NCFE CACHE Level 2 Diploma in Care. She informed Nescot College that, whilst she does have physical disabilities, she does not have learning disabilities. This was an important thing for Theresa to get across as she explained that many people look at her and immediately think that she has learning disabilities too, which she does not. 

Theresa started really well with her written work and received glowing feedback from her first few assignments. She faced issues during last summer relating to motivation, but with a different approach to the way she presented her evidence for each unit, many of which were her own suggestions, Theresa continued to excel with each unit of her coursework.  

She said: “I chose to pick the NCFE Level 2 Diploma in Care because I am passionate about becoming a children's social worker. Also, I live in a care, so I thought that this course would help me to gain an understanding of the rules and regulations of a care workers role.” 

Making a difference  

Theresa has organised three activity sessions in her local community to ensure that she covered the practical elements of the course. She has to juggle the barriers that her physical condition presents every day, alongside the psychological challenges – however, continues to always be on time for sessions each week and perseveres regardless.  

Working as a training facilitator for the Oliver McGowan programme (via Consensus care), Theresa also volunteers with the ‘Fantastic Freddies Foundation’, organising activities for people with disabilities. During her study time, she has created a club for people living with disabilities, aiming to make a difference to her local community.  

Not content with that, Theresa is a fundraiser for Disability Rights UK and actively seeks to spread positivity in relation to disability in general. She hopes to one day run her own charity and has a YouTube channel with over 3,000 subscribers.  

The videos show her unique experience of living with disability and focus mainly on promoting independence, with cooking and artwork being two of her passions. These amazing videos also act to inform, and Theresa, being an educator herself, understands the importance of promoting awareness, including on topics such as diabetes, mental health, disability rights, and autism.  

Using technology (a text-to-speech app) to convert the videos into well-presented, visual and audio presentations, they have proven to be an asset to her ongoing learning journey as she has been able to use them towards evidence for some of her optional units.  

Her awareness of the topics that she has covered is more than evident, and she is taking on board feedback that is given to her in a positive way. Being familiar with the ‘care’ industry gives her great insight into many of the topics covered within the diploma, and she often relates her own experiences to the content.  

Theresa added: “My future career plans are to become a children's with disabilities social worker or a mental health coach.” 

A truly unique person 

Theresa lives with Cerebral Palsy, borderline personality disorder, and diabetes. She has physical disabilities that, for example, make typing very challenging. Her condition causes fatigue as she struggles to sleep and, alongside this, is challenged every day due to her communication difficulties. Again, despite this, she continues to always look forward to new challenges – already enquiring about what’s next for her to do once she has completed the Level 2 diploma.  

Also sometimes suffering with low mood, Theresa is not used to, or particularly comfortable with, receiving positive feedback, but her confidence has improved greatly during the course, and she is learning to take complimentary remarks sincerely and uses them to motivate her further. Theresa is able to align what she is currently doing into her own personal wellbeing plan and has meetings with her own care team regarding her goals and wishes for her future.  

Julie Andrews, Theresa’s tutor at Nescot College, said: “Theresa is truly a unique person and one that, despite challenges, continues to seek out new ways to enhance her personal development as well as increasing awareness of key issues that are important to her. 

“I have learned a lot from Theresa, not just about her experience of living with Cerebral Palsy but about just how difficult life can be for students with additional needs. Yes, it is true that many students face challenges, but when these awards were first brought to my attention, as her tutor, her name was the first and only student that I thought of.  

“She has never once been distracted by anything that is going on with her life despite constant frustrations. She still looks at everything positively and is very goal-orientated and has a very clear picture of how she wants to live, learn, and also give back to others.” 

Congratulations Theresa! To read more inspirational stories from this year’s award winners, visit our Aspiration Awards 2025 page. 

Pictured: Our Against All Odds highly commended, Theresa Jackson, receives her award from Philip Le Feuvre, Chief Operating Officer at NCFE (L)