Finally acing her maths has proven cause for celebration for mum-of-two Dawn.

Convinced since school that hers was not a head for numbers, she had accepted she might never achieve that elusive qualification.

That was until the opportunity arose at work to brush up on her skills with evening classes delivered alongside Redcar and Cleveland College.

While Dawn, 51, an assistant practitioner at The James Cook University Hospital, might have shied away from the opportunity, she decided to, “face her demon”.

She said: “I have always been completely rubbish at maths and had no confidence whatsoever, but I knew I wanted to make my daughters proud and, this time, I wasn’t going to let it beat me.”

With weekly classes delivered in the hospital’s learning resource centre, straight after work, there was no excuse to skip a session.

Dawn admitted there were times, after a long shift, that a maths class wasn’t top of her wish list, but she said: “I knew when I got there that I would enjoy it.”  Something she never would have expected.

It took just a matter of months for her to pass both her Level 1 and Level 2 in Functional Skills Mathematics.

Putting her success down to a wonderful teacher in Alison, a great learning environment (at work), and sheer determination, she said: “I am so proud of myself, and I know my daughters are proud that I stuck in doing something I hate to finally succeed in the end.”

Even taking her homework on holiday with her, she explained: “I was studying on the sun lounger in Ibiza, that was my level of determination.”  And it clearly paid off.

Having worked at The James Cook University Hospital for 26 years, first as a nursing assistant and then going on to become an assistant practitioner, after achieving her foundation degree in health and social care, Dawn still loves her job.

Choosing to study maths for no other reason than overcoming her own personal barrier (and making her daughters proud) helped to ease any feelings of pressure or expectation.

She said: “It was something I was doing for myself.”

As for taking on her demon, with fresh qualifications to her name, how does Dawn feel about maths now?

“I still hate it,” she said with a laugh.