Royal attendance at community learning celebration Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - 14:24

The project at Volunteer Centre Greenwich - supported by Greenwich Council - has been offering accredited and non-accredited training to Community Learning Champions since 2004 and was introduced to the area as a pilot in 2001. The Community Learning Champions are local volunteers who promote learning in their homes, workplaces and communities.

In 2009, the Community Learning Champions' Support Programme - being delivered by NIACE, unionlearn, the WEA and Martin Yarnit Associates - was launched by the government to give national support and recognition to projects like the one at Volunteer Centre Greenwich. Since its launch, it has funded 50 projects across the country, producing in turn over 700 registered Community Learning Champions.

At the celebration, HRH The Princess Royal, Patron of NIACE, met Community Learning Champions from the project at Volunteer Centre Greenwich and said:

"Wear your badge with pride. My hope is that from today onwards that the Community Learning Champions badge will become as instantly recognisable as a mark of quality, as the brand of organisations such as the Save the Children or St John Ambulance, two bodies I have some association with. I will certainly be spreading the word for Community Learning Champions and I hope that you will do so too."

Paul Roberts grew up in East London and after leaving school with few qualifications, he worked in administration for 29 years. Through stress and job dissatisfaction, Paul found himself looking for a different job. After completing a course through the Personal Best Programme, he was introduced to the project in Greenwich.

Paul said:

"I have found that through helping others as a Community Learning Champion, to find their focus and direction it has helped me find mine...I have gained confidence and people skills and now I am working part-time on the Thames Clippers. I am still continuing with my...volunteering as...I enjoy the social aspect of networking and meeting new people, and the feeling that I am contributing to their lives and to the community."

Nadine Hagen is a mother of two who moved to the UK 14 years ago as an asylum seeker. After struggling with her own immigration status she was inspired to become a community interpreter to help women from the Francophone African background with their needs in the community.

Nadine said:

"I value the confidence my role as a Community Learning Champion gives me...and I would like other members of my community to gain the same confidence. My main goal...is to empower women in the community, breaking the language barriers that exist in the Francophone community and present women with the opportunity to take English courses, university degrees and more."

I have found that through helping others as a Community Learning Champion, to find their focus and direction it has helped me find mine...

Paul Roberts

Angela Wilden has lived in Greenwich for 27 years. Due to her dyslexia, she left school with no qualifications, but learned to read as an adult, to help her two children with learning difficulties. Since becoming a Community Learning Champion, Angela has also achieved an NVQ level 2 in Advice and Guidance.

Angela said:

"What I have gained the most from being a Community Learning Champion is the pleasure of being able to motivate others into learning and volunteering...I feel that I have helped others to spread the word about adult learning and volunteering and how it can help with family life. Children can feel proud of their parents' achievements which can encourage their children to do more."

Michelle Martin, Chief Executive of Volunteer Centre Greenwich said:

"Without the dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm for learning that our volunteers demonstrate, this project would not be the success it is. Its strength lies in the recruitment and retention of learning champions from diverse backgrounds throughout the Borough of Greenwich."

Mark Ravenhall, Director of Operations at NIACE, said on behalf of the Community Learning Champions Support Programme consortium:

"In the past, Community Learning Champions projects have lacked national support and recognition. However, the launch of the Community Learning Champions Support Programme has successfully raised awareness of the role that these projects can have in opening up opportunities to informal adult learning. This could not have been achieved without the government funding that has been committed to these crucial local projects."

"By celebrating the experiences of projects like the one in Greenwich, we are able to highlight the real difference that Community Learning Champions can make to their communities, particularly in areas of deprivation and to people whose previous experience of learning has been poor."

Cllr Peter Brooks, Deputy Leader of Greenwich Council, said:

"Community Learning Champions have a key role to play in helping to raise the aspirations of many in our communities, supporting and directing them to the vast range of learning opportunities available in the borough. The informal and flexible way in which they are able to support and encourage people into learning is a great strength of the scheme, and helps to ensure that local people - including those from some of our most deprived communities - can have access to the informal and formal learning that can help to change their lives."