A barber from Bury St Edmunds is top of the teaching crops after winning a national award.
Ryan Hathaway, 29, from Bury St Edmunds was crowned Individual Outstanding Lecturer of The Year at the annual Association of Hairdressers and Therapists (AHT) learning and development awards held in Blackpool last month.
In a citation read out at the awards it stated: “Ryan is constantly reflecting on his practise and finding ways to enhance his teaching methodology and the positive learning experience of his students. He also works for a charity a charity taking under privileged children and is involved in fund raising. This demonstrates that he also is actively supporting young people outside of his workplace and shows a depth of empathy and kindness to everybody.”
The West Suffolk College lecturer was chuffed with his accolade having spent the last 15 years being a member of an organisation that is part of Eastern Education Group.
The curriculum co-ordinator for hairdressing and barbering and the course director for barbering said: “I started at the college as a 14-year-old in September 2009, then came here to do a level one course two years later, went on to do a business degree, a PGCE and now I’m a teacher.”
Ryan – who owns Hathaway & Co based in the village of Timworth in Suffolk continued: “There were 15 other people in the category, and I received a big trophy. I hadn’t even thought about winning. I was very shocked. The judges started reading out information about the winner and I suddenly realised they were talking about me. We celebrated that night – and I believe this will hopefully help my career. I want to go down the management route – so this credits what I do.”
Ryan now joins colleagues Joanne Doward and Karen Baldwin from the West Suffolk College Academy for Hair and Beauty Studies who have also received this award in previous years. Marnie Williams is the Group Head of Faculty for the Academy of Hair and Beauty Studies. Marnie said: “Ryan is an ex-student who I taught years ago – he has gone through the ranks in his trade, this has continued into his professional teacher status and now he runs his own barber shop, his development has been brilliant to witness and be a part of and he has shown his potential for the future.”
