New Programme for Learning in Communities Wednesday, October 7, 2009 - 17:26

Over 150 people attended the launch of a new initiative to support volunteers promoting learning in their homes, workplaces and communities - the Community Learning Champions' Support Programme - in Birmingham, on Thursday 8 October 2009.

The Community Learning Champions' Support Programme, which is funded as part of the Government's Learning Revolution White Paper, will be delivered through a partnership between the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE), unionlearn, the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) and Martin Yarnit Associates.

The Community Learning Champions' Support Programme has three main elements:

• it will provide training and development opportunities for Community Learning Champions, as well as regional networks for exchanging good practice and a website,
• a Development Fund will be launched to fund up to 50 local initiatives over the next three years; and
• it will create a branding and badging scheme to raise the profile of Community Learning Champions across the country.

The national launch event introduced the Community Learning Champions concept to service providers and policy makers and gave full details of the support programme. Key speakers included Liz Lawson, Team Leader for Informal Adult Learning at BIS and Professor Bob Fryer CBE, former National Director for Widening Participation in Learning at the Department of Health.

Participants were encouraged to contribute their ideas about how the Community Learning Champions' Support Programme can develop, use ideas from previous schemes and build an effective working partnership throughout the country.

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

"Our launch event was a fantastic opportunity for us to share our plans for the programme, which will continue to develop over the next few months."

"It is only by hearing what will be most useful to people working to support and develop Community Learning Champions, that we can make sure that the programme has the lasting impact it should have."

"One of the most telling parts of the day were the videos which showed how people, acting as Community Learning Champions, are making a real difference to their lives, the lives of others and the communities they live in. Thanks to this programme there will be a lot more of this work going on in the future."

Speaking about the Programme, Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs, said:

"Community Learning Champions will play a crucial role in their communities, acting as role models and showing that it is never too late to learn new skills and to embark on new career routes.

"They'll also gain new leadership and mentoring skills themselves."

"This launch will enable people to get together, share ideas and make this work in the best way possible, for learning champions and learners alike."