North West
(Projects are listed alphabetically)
A New Learning Adventure for Third Agers
Blue Thursdays
Featured Community Reporting NW View more...
The aim of the project was to create an online interactive peer learning network that allows individuals, communities, organisations and staff to share knowledge and skills and supports participants to become Community Reporters.
The project created an open source online resource bank containing social media produced by local residents, and by staff from the housing association involved in the project. It also offered existing community reporters support to become facilitators, so that they could act as role models for other learners.
The project:
- ran a series of social media training workshops and facilitator support sessions;
- delivered online learning events; and
- developed online resources.
The project established an extremely positive and supportive working partnership with Contour Housing Group and this is reflected in the joint plans for future development of the project in Huncoat. The People's Voice Media is also providing on-going training around the development of a wiki.
The project was successful at engaging a cross section of learners aged 19-83. Learners achieved the necessary skills to join the wider People's Voice Media network. This means that they learnt to create content using photos, audio and video and upload content to the web.
It is important to identify key people who can make/implement decisions at the beginning of a project. This saves time and resources.
In addition to taking the views of local partner agencies, spend some time building your own relationships and doing your own research before delivering in a new area. Try to remain on course with the agenda that you are trying to deliver, whilst remaining flexible to the needs of the client group. The project showed how a little pre-knowledge about ethnic groups can go a long way in structuring a more appropriate and bespoke delivery plan.
People's Voice Media
The Grange
Pilgrim Drive
Manchester
M11 3TQPeople's Voice Media
The Grange
Pilgrim Drive
Manchester
M11 3TQ
Community Researchers on Gender and Inclusion
Cookery Pack
Featured Creative and Innovative Communities Learning Project View more...
The aim of the Creative and Innovative Communities project was to pool resources and expertise to roll out a range of informal learning activities for individuals not usually involved in learning. It aimed to take learning out into the community, targeting the 5 most deprived wards in the area.
A number of taster sessions were delivered including cookery and healthy eating, knitting and sewing, music and singing, reading groups, poetry and reading, media and photography, enterprise development. Taster sessions were also offered at a 'Through the Eye of the Tiger' learning event.
A pitch was set up for 4 weeks on market day and a wide range of tasters and information were available including pottery, jewellery making from junk, renovation, woodworking skills and entrepreneurship, alternative therapies, IT and digital photography. An empty shop unit of a busy local shopping centre was opened up for 6 weeks at which a range of workshops was delivered.
Finally, the project produced an online basic skills resource for the new Museum of Liverpool and updated existing basic skills resources.
The project succeeded in developing new partnerships with a range of organisations laying the foundations for future collaborative working. Learning Champions were involved at the planning and delivery stages. They had a crucial role in promoting the value of learning and recruiting/signposting new learners to the activities on offer.
The project exceeded targets and succeeded in engaging new and different groups of learners; people going about their everyday business, in market and shopping mall situations. Projects were well received and well attended with over 1500 learners engaged and over 600 learners taking part in a learning taster session.
For this project, it was important to ensure that the skills and knowledge gained could be utilised in the future; that there were progression routes into further learning or participation in local communities. It showed how informal learning can and does break down barriers.
Liverpool Personal and Community Development (PCDL) Partnership
Liverpool Adult Learning Service
1st Floor Millennium House
Victoria Street
Liverpool
L1 6JF
DiGi 50+
ENVIZ project
Featured Football and Life Academy View more...
The project aimed to use football as a way of addressing the learning needs of young adults, improving their health and fitness and developing their life skills.
The project worked with single young men who were homeless, living in The Foyer, or moving on into independent accommodation. Many of these learners were involved in the criminal justice system, had drug and alcohol issues and/or mental health problems. Their physical health was often poor and their educational potential unrealized due to their chaotic lifestyles and personal histories.
The project created a six-week football academy training programme. This provided the opportunity for participants to develop their football skills at any level, and to play in local leagues. They also took part in an embedded life skills learning programme focusing on:
- anger management
- teamwork
- planning ahead
- body management
- self-motivation
- management of the emotions.
The life skills were delivered through a pitch-side learning model using the medium and language of football. The sessions were run either on the pitch or in the clubhouse. 30 learners took part in these sessions, jointly delivered by a Life Skills Tutor and a Football Coach.
- Learner retention on the programme was over 75%. Participants gained increased confidence and ability to manage their own lives. 30% have now moved on to accredited learning opportunities, and a further 40% to more informal learning opportunities. Six participants have completed their FA coaching qualification and another four were in the process of doing so when the final project report was written.
- The YMCA has two football teams playing in local leagues as a result of this project. This has given Foyer residents a sense of having a stake in the local community and has helped to create a sense of belonging that is often difficult to achieve for young people who have come from socially excluded backgrounds.
- Ten participants are now in paid work. Two have become internal YMCA volunteers and 14 others have been volunteering at sports events in Manchester.
- There have been reduced levels of alcohol and substance misuse among almost all the participants.
- There is evidence that the participants have valued the learning opportunity offered by the programme and this has helped them to sustain their housing tenancies and settle in their accommodation when they move on from The Foyer.
- A group of young people who have left The Foyer and moved into settled accommodation have set up their own football team in the local community and now play in the Sunday league.
- The degree of engagement in the pitch side learning has had a positive spin off in the learning environment of the YMCA training department generally.
- The idea of using football as a learning platform was very successful as a first step engagement tool . This is something that learning providers often struggle to find for the more hard to reach young males. The project made it clear to their learners that the programme was about both football and life, and the balance of the programme worked really well.
- A critical feature of the success of the programme was the joint delivery through both a Football Coach and a Life Skills Tutor. This worked because both shared an interest in football and were able to maximise the wider learning and personal development opportunities.
- Partnerships were also important to the success of the project. The Foyer worked with local football clubs and training facilities, and Cheshire East Sport and Leisure Department offered FA coaching courses. Streetgames UK also offered opportunities for volunteering and wider sports participation opportunities.
- Many learners were keen to progress to more learning but there are limited opportunities that are appropriate to this target group.
Crewe YMCA Foyer
189 Gresty Road
Crewe
Cheshire
CW2 6EL
Glories, Furores and other Such Stories
Groundwork Eco Hub
Growing Places
Growing Windows for Peace UK
iLearn
In Focus
In Our Own Words
Inter Generational Reminiscence Project based in the village of Shap
Featured Just the Ticket View more...
The WEA North West's 'Just the ticket' project aimed to broaden learners' horizons by taking them out of the classroom into museums, art galleries, libraries, theatres and country estates around Liverpool and Manchester.
The project offered bespoke learning adventures that were designed around the theme of travel and routes with various lines radiating out from either a Manchester or Liverpool hub. The WEA acknowledged that getting out and about was a big step for some learners, especially those who are marginalised or who lack the confidence to travel on public transport.
The Just the Ticket project addressed these concerns by marketing the courses to communities, centres and organisations frequented by non-traditional learners. The project also provided public transport tickets and travel training, or organised mini buses where necessary.
Activities involved the recording of personal memories, producing creative prose and poems, creative writing, handmade paper making, hand woven fabric making, and photography. Courses were also designed specifically for learners with learning difficulties and disabilities.
The project exceeded expectations and accessed a far larger number of people than had been planned for. Just the ticket involved 212 learners across 21 courses throughout the project. It enabled different models of delivery and approaches to be explored which proved effective in attracting non-traditional learners into adult learning. Over 71% of participants were unemployed, 31% were from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, 34% were over 50 years of age, and 22% classified themselves as disabled. 30% of participants were visiting the cultural venues in the area for the first time.
Partnerships between institutions such as broadcasters and galleries, and groups with credibility within communities, can open up learning for whole new audiences.
However, motivating some of the groups is a very difficult task, so it is important to cost in more time at the start of the project for initial relationship-building with the participants.
North West Region WEA
4th Floor,
Crawford House,
Oxford Road,
Manchester
M13 9GH
Knowledge of Life in the UK Preparatory Course
Learning is Fun
Learning Revolution 4 Bolton
MadLab
My Story, My Life
New Mornings, Old Streets
North West
Projects in the North West
Rotunda Learning Revolution
Soap Box Films Ltd
Featured Starting Point Community Learning Partnership View more...
The Starting Point Community Learning Partnership project aimed to provide access to informal learning opportunities to local residents and develop a local community anchor.
The project opened up an empty space and developed it into a learning environment. It delivered 10 information technology (IT) sessions and other learning activities.
The project worked well with local partners and received support from local organisations. It engaged a wide range of young and older learners.
Projects need to allow for a drop-out rate especially when offering courses for free. Information gathering is time consuming at the beginning so making the collection of information as friendly, and non threatening as possible is important.
Do not be afraid to share information and ask for help.
Starting Point Community Learning Partnership
4/5 Woodley Precinct
Stockport
SK6 1RJ
The Cascade Project
Tune into Learning
Featured Your Choice project View more...
The project aimed to break down barriers preventing adults with disabilities from accessing informal learning opportunities. They opened up learning opportunities to 60 disabled adults, with an emphasis on adults with learning disabilities.
A key objective was for participants to take control of their own learning by helping to organise activities through the project steering group, enabling them to learn organisational skills and increase their self-esteem. The steering group, consisting of 10 participants, decided on the programme of activities.
The project recruited 60 adults to a range of informal learning activities including creative arts and crafts, digital photography, and cookery. Transport and learning support were provided to help learners to access the programme.
The learners had the opportunity to learn organisation skills by participating in the steering group. The project provided support to help them do this by producing notes of the meeting in an easy read format, using a communications system using visual symbols (see www.widgit.com). This enabled them to check on the outcomes of the meetings and therefore have more of a voice within the project. See examples of these notes in the resources section.
The 60 participants on the project gained:
- increased health, mental and physical well-being;
- increased confidence and self-esteem;
- new independent living skills, such as cookery, where they learned new simple recipes to try at home and took a recipe home from each session;
- new ICT skills, particularly skills to use a digital camera and edit photos. A selection of project photographs are available.
By including 10 learners in the steering group the project enabled people with learning difficulties to have an effective voice in selecting the activities and shaping the programme.
Whilst aiming to break down barriers preventing people with disabilities and learning difficulties from accessing informal adult learning, the project discovered that:
- Breaking down the barrier of transport for people living within care homes does not necessarily mean they are able to attend as there is a shortage of staff within many care homes to accompany people to a learning activity.
- Even if additional support is provided within the learning environment itself this does not necessarily solve the problem because of the policies that exist within many care homes regarding residents who have multiple disabilities.
- Involving participants in the steering group and other organisational activities was an excellent way of building the confidence of the participants, developing their organisational skills, maintaining interest in the learning activities and promoting them to new potential participants.
Anne Kinsella: anne.kinsella@greenbank-project.org.uk
