First Steps - New Opportunities
Go Woman! is an organisation that provides business support for women. Working in partnership with Adderley Children's Centre, Birmingham.
The aim of the project was to create an environment for informal learning by creating a mechanism by which individuals could access further opportunities in learning.
The target group for this project were women who were classed as 'hard to reach', coming from communities that rarely accessed local provisions due to cultural reasons, and newcomers to the area from other countries. 32 taster sessions were delivered to participants from a range of black and minority ethnic backgrounds, the majority of whom did not have English as a first language.
The project:
- launched a R.E.A.D initiative during which a small group of women who had attended the taster sessions met every fortnight for 2 hours to Read, Enjoy, Apply and Discuss (R.E.A.D) books;
- developed a hub of local resources to signpost individuals to other learning opportunities;
- created a vibrant network of individuals that acted as a catalyst for other women wishing to access informal learning; and
- attracted a 69% attendance rate in a community where 30% attendance is perceived as a success.
The lessons learned were that:
- any initiative requires time to develop and build momentum;
- the needs of groups vary and one type of learning offer cannot suit everyone;
- language support is crucial to engage a client group for whom English is not the first language. Many of the target group had already attended English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes but lacked the confidence to engage in a conversation;
- provision of childcare facilities is crucial for many women as lack of its availability can exclude women from participating; and
- paper based marketing alone does not work with this client group. In fact, it was a combination of outreach and an interim celebration event that helped to engage more individuals onto the taster sessions.
Go Woman Ltd.
C/O Asian-e
2nd Floor,
3 Brindley Place,
Birmingham,
B1 2JB.
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