My background for over 5 years is fostering vulnerable adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues under the Shared Lives scheme, work within a complex needs refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence, and with non-verbal autistic males with epilepsy in a registered care home.  I have been more or less unable to work since my eldest son became very ill at the beginning of this year.  After years of misdiagnosis, he  underwent  major  throat  and  chest  surgery  in  May  2017  for  branchio-oto-renal  syndrome,  a  very  rare  congenital disease,  and  he  is  awaiting  further  surgery  this  year.  My  younger son, age 6,  has  since  been  diagnosed with  the  same  condition, and he too will need surgery

My  desire  and  passion  has  been  to  become a clinical psychologist, and I have been using my time at home looking after my sons to pursue an MSc in Mental Health Psychology through the University of Liverpool Online, in order to prepare me for a career helping people with mental health issues when my sons have gone through treatment.  As  my  course  began  on  30  March  2017,  I  am  ineligible  for  a  masters' student  loan  through  Student  Finance  Wales,  and  I  have  been  rejected  for  a  Professional  Career  and  Development  Loan  too.  My  only  hope  to  pursue  this  qualification  and  further  work  in  this  field  is  through  raising  funds  myself  otherwise  my  next  module  will  be  put  on  hold  until  I  can  afford  to  pay  for  it.   Each  module  costs  £1006,  and  there  are  six  more  plus  dissertation  to  do.  My  average  in  the  first  module  was  70.5%,  and  I  am  nearing  the  end  of  module  two. 

Without  assistance  I  will  grind  to  an  immediate  halt  as  I  need  to  raise  funds  to  pay  for  my  present  and  future  modules  and  dissertation.  Please  consider  giving  anything  you  can  to  help  me  make  a  much-needed  difference  in  the  mental  health  field.