All Projects

100%

Fluid Space Arts

100% created learning spaces to encourage creativity and enable participants to explore their future hopes, ideas and aspirations using a range of arts mediums including: dance- contemporary and urban dance; photography, using digital and still photography; craft based - textiles, textures and painting techniques; video production skills and animation; literature – short stories, a children’s book and bookmaking, journals and to produce a storybook using illustration and graphics computer packages. The project targeted young males (19- 35), the long term unemployed, single parents and people on a low income.

A New Learning Adventure for Third Agers

Lancaster University

This project aimed to create a learning community across South Gloucestershire, by creating and training a team of community learning champions and volunteer coordinators. These champions and volunteers then worked with partner organisations to offer open days with taster sessions. Following this, specific courses were delivered to engage and support adults in a wide range of learning activities, the most popular of which were line dancing, drawing, photography, jewellery and beauty therapy. This project worked to develop the learning infrastructure by creating new partnerships between organisations and as such the champions and volunteers have developed their knowledge about different learning providers in the community.

Access to Arts

Double Impact

Access to Arts offered learners a programme of weekly visits to local arts venues and services including galleries, each with an introduction or follow-up practical and creative arts workshops facilitated at the venue with the support of education/arts officers. The programme aimed to increase the independent use of these venues by vulnerable and socially excluded groups. This included people experiencing substance misuse/ dependence, homelessness people, offenders and ex-offenders, people with mental health issues and unemployed people. Visits introduced learners to visual arts, digital arts, music, dance, drama, local, natural and social history, photography and film. The project was based on a partnership between support service providers and arts providers.

Action Deafness

Action Deafness used technology and new media (e.g. facebook and a project website) to enhance informal adult learning with deaf, hard of hearing and hearing impaired adults. They provided 55 taster sessions and engaged with 237 learners. Learning activities included fitness, using the Internet, managing your money and making life easier at home, helping learners increase their health and wellbeing, develop ICT skills, engage in financial learning and develop life skills. A DVD was created to promote the learning opportunities. The project found informal learning to be popular among the target group, and that there is a high demand for ICT learning.

Active Citizenship Education Project (ACEP)

WEA Yorkshire and Humber Region

A WEA led project to develop new active citizenship courses, by developing a strategic network of those engaged in active citizenship education across the region; working with partners to deliver day courses for council staff; writing a series of 5 hour courses, supported by short pamphlets, and made accessible online; piloting some courses; and holding a national dissemination event to highlight and share active citizenship educational work

Add-Venture In Learning

The aim of this project was to encourage visually impaired adults to participate in science, arts and museum based learning courses and to encourage new providers to be inclusive of visually impaired adults in their activities. The project delivered three courses of hands-on and experimental learning, enhanced by discussion activity and field trips. The project was a collaboration between a user-led organisation of visually impaired people and education providers.

Adult Learning Festival

Brighton and Hove Learning Partnership

The Brighton and Hove Adult Learning Festival was led by Brighton and Hove council in partnership with a range of adult education centres, the CVSF, a community project, an architectural company, an art gallery, a shop and a charity. Partnership working was promoted through meetings and open space technology events, supported by a ‘skillswap’ Ning, Twitter, BBC Sussex, and Facebook. The festival took place over 5 months, and was designed to attract new learners, with particular emphasis upon the severely excluded, into informal learning. Courses were diverse and the festival was designed and led by local groups and organisations, culminated in a celebratory event showcasing learner experiences and outputs. The project promoted inclusion by both funding specific groups and working with homeless shelters, a youth offenders’ centre and a home for severely and terminally disabled people. The project opened up a range of non-traditional spaces, successfully promoted self-organised learning, engaged with broadcasting technology, and was successful in effecting outreach.

Adventures in Learning

London Borough of Hackney

‘Adventures in Learning’ was a project developed by the London Borough of Hackney, in partnership with a range of statutory, commercial, leisure and housing organisations, intended to deliver a programme of adventurous and physical activity alongside guidance and advice that encouraged adults to improve their confidence and life chances. Learners had the opportunity to participate in canoeing, sailing, climbing, fitness sessions and ‘learn to swim’ activities on a weekly basis and gained certified proficiency awards in some of the activities that they took part in. The project also supported people in enriching their social life and enhanced confidence through the learning of new skills; learners also reported physical well-being and enhanced mental health. The project engaged groups such as NEETs, adults who had been outside of the employment for a long period and adults who were isolated within their homes.

Agile

Exemplas Ltd

This project was centred on promoting environmental awareness through informal education for sustainable communities. The project had two target groups: employed people and disengaged learners. Issues addressed included energy conservation, waste management, recycling, composting toilets and high-technology environmental solutions. Leaning activities took the form of workshops, seminars and lectures, with follow on one-to-one mentoring. At the end of the project, Exemplas Limited ran an environmental conference with the local Chamber of Commerce.

Alive to Learning

Science Alive

Science Alive, a learning provider, worked with a range of partners to offer a series of hands-on, practical, informal learning workshops to convey the excitement of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and their relevance to everyday life. It offered adult learners (including disadvantaged families, parents and carers and learners with low self-esteem and/or few qualifications including unemployed people) a range of science-based informal learning activities, including ICT skills for older learners; an introduction to STEM in everyday life; storytelling; an accessible introduction to the National Curriculum and science in schools; and developing presentation skills through performing arts. They aimed to build confidence and basic skills and help people move onto further opportunities including further learning and career redirection.