A MOTHER had a sneak preview of her future when she saw her daughter graduate from a Teesside college.

Linda Pickering has completed a foundation year, and will start a degee course in September.

She will study at the Stockton campus of Durham University, after being inspired by the efforts of her daughter, Rebecca Dawkins, who graduated yesterday from the same college.

Rebecca was presented with her BSc (Hons) in Science and Childhood in Society degree by actor and Durham University Chancellor Sir Peter Ustinov.

The ceremony took place in Stockton Parish Church, with 240 graduates watched by family and friends, after a High Street procession from the town hall.

Mother and daughter also studied together at the Stockton college, with Rebecca giving her mother the idea and showing her the way back into study.

Rebecca enrolled at college after completing A-levels at Billingham's St Bede Sixth Form College.

After hearing about university life from her daughter, Linda decided the time was right for her take up something which she knew she could achieve and return to education.

She attended taster sessions developed by the university's Centre for Life Long Learning and progressed to the one-year foundation programme.

Linda said: "Studying alongside Rebecca was no problem. The campus is very welcoming and receptive to all ages, and Rebecca's friends have become mine too."

Both mother and daughter juggle other responsibilities alongside their studies. Linda is a single mother, while Rebecca is a full-time carer for her great-grandfather.