Life is often stranger and more interesting than fiction, and adult education tutor Jackie Sherman has found a niche helping people to unlock the story of their lives.

After putting together a distance learning course on how to write autobiography, she felt some people might prefer face-to-face advice.

"I have been an adult education tutor for years, doing computing, and I felt this course would work well with a group," she said.

"I held my first one just before Christmas, and one of the students thought it was so good, she suggested her father should come on the next one. People really do seem to enjoy it."

She believes everyone has a story to tell, and sees her role as enabling them to tell it in the best way. She has been amazed at the variety of experiences of her students, who range in age from their 40s to 85.

"The course is very structured because people tend to be all over the place at first. The first week we develop a timeline, and then we start collecting information and remembering things.

“In the third session we try to improve the writing by bringing in dialogue and making it more interesting. Then we look at organising the material, whether chronologically or some other way, and finally we consider publishing."

She uses her own house in Abingdon as the venue.

"I've got a coffee machine and a large kitchen table, which is useful for the exercises where people bring letters and photos. It works really well," she said.

"Some people have kept journals or a diary for years, and one woman had piles of letters from her father to her mother. Some people have had difficult experiences and do it as therapy, while others do it for their children and grandchildren.

"Each person has a story. They all have different stories and different reasons for doing it."

Not everyone decides to produce a full-length book, however.

"Some people prefer to look at the idea of using bits and pieces of their past in stories that they could get published, but there are others who will do a book.

"I have had an 85-year-old who has done an introduction and is well on the way. I think some people will manage to get a book finished."

So when will Mrs Sherman, 63, write her own autobiography?

"I have a huge problem, in that I think it's going to be boring. I have written a lot of magazine articles about my experiences, for instance for Canals and Rivers magazine.

“I'm running a craft club in Abingdon as well, doing bead jewellery, clay modelling and other things, so I'm quite busy.

"But my grandfather was a Russian emigre, so I could do something about him, perhaps. I do voluntary counselling one day a week for the elderly, which helps with the autobiography class.

"This is the sort of group that I love, and I would like to run them regularly. I'm sure there are lots of people out there who would benefit."

o Contact: Jackie Sherman, 01235 550168