A Rossington widow struggling to overcome the death of her husband has hailed the ‘life changing' training provided by South Yorkshire community organisation Sector Solutions.

Sandra Hall, 62, from Rossington had spent most of her working life in various factories and bringing up her son and was settled for a life of early retirement with her husband of 38 years.

After he died unexpectedly her confidence hit an all-time low and she became depressed. Sandra's sister-in-law suggested they sign up for a craft course at Rossington Welfare and Learning Centre, in an attempt to get Sandra out of the house and socialising again.

Since completing the course Sandra has sought to get further involved in society over the last four years including volunteering, working as an exam invigilator, taking a computer course and learning to drive at the age of 58.

Sandra said: "People used to say we were joined at the hip and I was devastated by his death. The months that followed were lonely and distressing and I became very depressed.

"I didn't even know how to complete the registration form as my husband took care of things like that. I'm now much more confident and can't speak highly enough about the support that I received from Rossington Welfare and Learning Centre, through Sector Solutions.

"I'm very grateful and really don't know where I would be today without the training I have received. It really has opened up a whole new world and if I can do it, anyone can."

Sector Solutions supplies public funding from initiatives such as European Social Fund, The Big Lottery and Government agencies to community organisations to help them to remove the barriers that exist for the hardest to reach in our communities.

Sector Solutions helped Rossington Welfare and Learning Centre (RWLC) to access European funding to provide training opportunities to those who haven't been in the learning environment for a long time.

Andrew Coulthard, Executive Director at Sector Solutions said: "Like many people who come to our partner organisations, Sandra was initially quite sceptical and had reservations. But thankfully she stuck at it and Sandra is now more positive and energetic and is a very busy volunteer.

"This is what our work is all about, helping people to achieve things that they didn't believe they could do."