Government funds community learning projects Monday, December 21, 2009 - 09:29

The Community Learning Champions' Support Programme helps volunteers promote learning in their homes, workplaces and communities. It provides training and development opportunities for Community Learning Champions, has set up regional networks and a website for exchanging good practice and has also created a branding and badging scheme to raise the profile of Community Learning Champions across the country.

The winning projects - representing all nine of the English regions - will reach out to different groups of vulnerable and socially excluded people including those who are homeless, people with learning difficulties and disabilities, families, older people, ex-offenders, unemployed people, refugees and people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

One of the 36 projects will be working nationally:

Equal Access to Learning - led by Voice UK - will inspire adults with learning difficulties across the country, to enhance their well-being and economic independence by participating in informal learning activities. The project will recruit a national team of disabled Community Learning Champions who will encourage people to learn through a series of drama productions, podcasts and digital mentoring.

Regional projects include:

Championing Learning in the East of England Care Sector - led by Q Training Ltd - will reach out to care staff, helping them to access informal learning moving away from the formal learning necessary to meet their statutory requirements. The project will also encourage its volunteer Learning Champions to focus on care service users, as learning activities can have a positive impact on their well-being.

Blackpool Heritage Learning Champions - led by Blackpool Council Adult and Community Learning Service - will encourage local people to champion Blackpool's ambition of becoming a World Heritage site. Learning Champions will encourage learners to use digital technology and handheld devices to document and preserve information.

Knowing Me, Knowing You, Knowing Bristol - led by Bristol City Council - will expand its current team of local Learning Champions to improve community cohesion across Bristol's diverse communities, though informal learning. Learning Champions will be trained in storytelling techniques and in creating digital stories so they can share their experiences with local people.

Bradford Learning Champions - led by Trescom Research & Consultancy Ltd and Artworks Creative Communities - will engage 600 disadvantaged adults, including those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds, in informal arts-based activities. Its team of Learning Champions, together with local artists, will support this group of adults to develop their self-confidence, motivation and learning capability.

Learn Together - organised by the Birmingham Ethnic Education Advisory Service - will recruit Learning Ambassadors to raise awareness of learning opportunities that are available to South Asian women in local communities; some of whom are refugees. The project will be driven by the interests, needs and enthusiasm of the learners.

Older Volunteers as Peer Learning Mentors - led by Community Service Volunteers - will focus on people in the 50-75 age group, experiencing poverty and social exclusion in disadvantaged areas of Camden and Islington. An additional dimension is that bi-lingual Learning Champions will reach out to the local Latin American ethnic minority community.

Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs, said:

"Community Learning Champions play a vital role in their communities, encouraging peers, neighbours, family, and friends to take up learning. They act as role models, showing it is never too late for anyone to develop new interests, learn new skills and embark on new career routes."

"I'm pleased that these 36 projects have been successful in bidding for funding to get started. I wish them the very best of luck in boosting learning in their communities."

Liz Cousins, NIACE Project Manager of the Community Learning Champions Support Programme, said:

"We were delighted to receive over 170 applications from organisations hoping to deliver a Community Learning Champions' scheme. It illustrates just how well this approach is regarded across the country and just how many organisations want to incorporate it into their work."

"Out of all the applications to the Development Fund, a successful 36 projects were awarded contracts. Over the next year we will work hard with them to help raise their profile and sustain their valuable work in the future. However, none of this could be achieved without funding from the Government's Learning Revolution, which recognises the importance of informal adult learning."