Sometimes when I speak to young people they are surprised to hear that I didn’t do very well in my GCSEs. Fortunately, I was given a second chance by Accrington and Rossendale College in Lancashire.

Without that second chance, I would not have been able to go on to study Drama and Business Studies at DeMontford University. Further education gave me the second chance I needed and that is why I am incredibly worried about the difficulties our further education colleges are facing.

Read my South London Press column on cuts to further education and the Lewisham Southwark College UCU strikes below (printed in the Friday 28th September edition).