Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Calculated success for marvellous mum Lynn
College graduation
A number- crunching Chapelhall mum is realising her dream of a career in accounting after graduating from New College Lanarkshire.
Lynn Leggat overcame personal tragedy to secure an HND in accounting and was cheered on by sons, Dean, 21, and Jay, 15, at the college’s glittering award ceremony in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.
Having lost her husband to cancer when he was just 32, Lynn raised her children on her own and made the decision to enrol in a part-time course at the college’s Coatbridge campus.
It became a family effort as she and son Dean, who now works in IT, were in the same HNC accounting class for a year.
Lynn, 47, said: “I am so proud of what my sons have achieved, so I felt it was my turn to make something of myself.
“Dean and I worked as a team – he was good at spreadsheets and I was good at payroll.
“But he decided to go down a computing path as he had studied that the year before.
“After finishing my part-time HNC, I decided to give up my job and study full-time for the HND, which was a big decision as I had a good career with a local GP practice.”
In her twenties, Lynn had worked in an accountancy firm but had to give up her job to care for her husband.
She latterly worked in other administrative jobs but always dreamed of returning to accountancy, and has set her sights on setting up her own business.
She added: “I am now studying for a degree in accounting at the University of the West of Scotland, which is taught at the Coatbridge campus of New College Lanarkshire, and I have realised giving up my job was the right decision.”