LEARNING
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One of the group learning workshop sessions at our third regional conference on 16th November 2011 which was held at Aintree Racecourse on Merseyside
Champions of Learning: Welcome from Dave Eva Unionlearn NW
held our third regional conference on 16th November 2011 at Aintree Racecourse on Merseyside. The event was attended by over 170 ULRs and other trades union representatives and officers. The event was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, to meet new ones and to learn from each other. Much has changed since our last regional conference in March 2010 and new opportunities in union learning have opened up since then. Regional Conference included contributions from the employer and the union perspectives, from stakeholders including the UK’s Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox; from HEIs and from the national ULR of the year – USDAW’s Jonathan Waterhouse, who works at McVities in Manchester (pictured at the top right on the front cover). We also heard from David Kendall of the Reading Agency about the 2012 ‘Six Book Challenge’. Literacy is of course a cornerstone of learning, and encouraging confidence in
reading is crucial. The ‘Six Book Challenge’ can utilise the Quick Reads books which are accessible for those out of the habit of reading, or who find it difficult. Placing books in works canteens etc can ‘normalise’ reading as a leisure activity (see www.sixbookchallenge. org.uk). Four education providers were awarded the unionlearn Quality Award at the conference for specific elements of their provision: South Cheshire College’s TUC Trade Union Studies; Liverpool Community College’s Skills for Life and Taxi Drivers’ Qualifications; Unite the Union’s Learning Centre ESOL course at First Bus in Queens road; and the CWU Learning Centre in Stockport for SFL and Information, Advice and Guidance. The event was an opportunity to celebrate all Union Learning Reps and your achievements in the workplace over the last year or two. We asked regional and branch trades unions to nominate union reps who have gone the extra mile to support learners, to engage
employers and to promote learning in the widest possible sense. There are around two thousand ULRs in our region who do a great job day in and day out, many in very challenging circumstances, supporting colleagues and promoting learning and development for members, other staff and the wider community. However, there were twelve ULRs who stood out in our five categories. On the following pages we are delighted to showcase our “Champions of Learning” and hope they can help you to promote union learning in your workplace and across the region. For further information see www.unionlearn. org.uk or ring the NW office on 0151 236 5366. Many thanks as ever for all you do to support union learning. With best wishes from Dave Eva, Regional Manager, NW unionlearn
DIGITAL M
ark Dunne, Regional Education and Lifelong Learning Organiser for the FBU
Digital inclusion was enthusiastically picked up as a theme for union learning by Mark Dunne, the regional Education organiser for the Fire Brigades Union. Mark saw the opportunity to help FBU members who are not fully ‘IT-literate’, and also the chance to use the skills of those who are, in order to help other members by utilising them as ‘digital champions’. Mark was able to capitalise on the high profile activity on digital inclusion in Merseyside around the ‘Go On its Liverpool’ and the BBC’s ‘Give An Hour’ Campaigns, which were launched on 24th October 2011. Mark promoted digital inclusion work to his employers the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services, writing a strategy document to present this, as well as to the FBU where he works co-ordinating union learning across all five of the sub-regions in the North West. Mark embraced the concept of recruiting digital champions to encourage people to get online and to undertake IT courses and this has led to this work being taken up across the service. Mark’s union and employer are now seconding him to focus on this.
Mark is working to ensure that the FBU and the MFRS work to encourage both staff and the wider community to get online and use the internet. The model he devised for Merseyside will now hopefully be rolled out the other four sub-regions in the North West. Digital inclusion is part of a wider learning programme supported by the FBU and the FRS including work retraining older workers and many other aspects of union learning. Mark has worked quickly to present reports to the five regional employers on the benefits of promoting digital inclusion through the Fire Service’s learning centres which are open to the community. In the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service there is a Learning Pod of three computers at the City Centre Fire Station and a Learning Zone of six laptops at Speke Fire Station in South Liverpool which will be utilised for this. In addition to those two fire stations there are computers at every workplace and fire station in Merseyside which will be used for the ‘Get Online’ campaign as well as the Race Online 2012 national campaign. Mark Dunne has moved quickly to write reports to engage the employer in each sub-region. He
has set out clearly how the union can work with the employer to promote the benefits of being online to all staff and to the local community, by being invited to use Fire Service resources. By recruiting ULRs as digital champions this work can be cascaded and by effective use of the free resources available – eg BBC First Click, the work can be carried out at relatively little additional cost to the employer or union. Concrete results in terms of learner numbers and digital champions can be achieved relatively quickly in line with the Race Online / ‘Go On its Liverpool’ timeframes.
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Mark says that “becoming a ULR is a rewarding role that encourages all members and reps to take up lifelong learning to achieve a wide range of skills and qualifications. Once our members realise that learning is completely different to statutory training in work they relax and bring fun and enthusiasm to their particular course or qualification. I would urge all FBU members and trade union members to get involved, they can start by contacting their ULR’s or Unionlearn.” Mark can be contacted on: Mark.Dunne@fbu.org.uk
Mark Dunn, right, Regional Education and Lifelong Learning Organiser for the FBU, receives his Digital Champion Award from Dave Eva, Regional Manager, NW unionlearn
DIGITAL Stephen Hewitt,
Lead ULR at Oldham MBC , member of UNITE
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Our second enthusiastic ‘digital champion’ is Stephen Hewitt, the lead ULR for Unite the union at Oldham Council. Stephen has been a keen advocate of providing ICT skills and qualifications to staff and the wider community in his local area. He has supported older learners and community groups in getting access to basic ICT. Stephen has taken the lead in key areas of getting projects off the ground, adequate facilities resourced, and ensuring that they are promoted and used by staff and the wider community. This included organising basic ICT for a project being run by Oldham’s Adult Services in Chadderton Hall Park. As well as being a nominee for the ‘Talk Talk Digital Champion’ award, and organising for ULRs to ‘Give an Hour’ at the recent BBC event in Salford media city, Stephen has also been a pioneer at his own workplace centre. Three areas where Stephen has worked hard include innovative community engagement; promoting education to volunteers, and employees; and leading by example – he is a genuine advocate of ‘you are never too old to learn’! One of Stephen’s success stories is that of Irene and Gordon Jones, who first contacted the UK Online Centre at Oldham Council’s Moorhey
Stephen has been a keen advocate of providing ICT skills and qualifications to staff and the wider community in his local area Street depot. Stephen was initially hesitant at being approached by people other than work colleagues: “Irene had been given my contact details from the online basics website. I rang Irene and she asked for free computer courses and my first thought was how was I going to achieve this? I then made arrangements for them to come down and I set two computers so they could have a go on them”. Irene said that she and Gordon were considering buying a laptop but didn’t know where to start or even how to switch one on, having not had any recent education: it had been 50 years for Irene, and 45 years for Gordon, since they last had any formal education. “I am very pleased to say that they were not
disappointed with their computer, now Irene is a member of Facebook, they have booked their flights to Turkey for their holiday and have paid their car tax online”. Gordon was very impressed with the government website and said “It will make his life a little easier knowing that he could securely pay for things on the internet like his car tax as he had to walk or drive to the Town Centre to pay for it prior to buying the PC”. Stephen knows that none of this would have happened if the learning project had not decided to register as an online centre partner or had the facilities and support of Oldham Council at hand to help senior citizens within the community. Stephen says: “I am privileged to be able to say that being a union learner rep allows full inclusion into education by helping those that cannot or would not have had the opportunity or inclination to try to learn or access training within the workplace without our help, we give opportunities to people so they are more employable. We give people ambition and direction in what they hope to achieve. We have made huge leaps within our Authority and managed to organise Skills for Life and Training where it never existed before. But there is still so much to do.” Stephen can be contacted on: Stephen.Hewitt@oldham.gov.uk
Stephen Hewitt, right, Lead ULR at Oldham MBC and member of UNITE at the unionlearn stall with Janet Valentine
DIGITAL
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Jackie Saville, Training Officer at Salford City Council and UNISON member is awarded her Digital Champion Certificate by Dave Eva
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ackie Saville – Training Officer at Salford City Council, UNISON member
Jackie is our third energetic digital champion, who works as a Training and Organisational Development Officer at Salford City Council. Jackie was nominated by Scott Henderson, a UNITE ULR at the council for the support Jackie has provided for staff who may not have access to the intranet and email. Scott works as a driver and many of his colleagues do not have this access, and this can be a major disadvantage as staff face redeployment or redundancy. Jackie passionately believes that all staff at the City Council need to have equal access to communications and hence to development opportunities, and that they need IT skills to maximise the opportunities on offer in redesigned and restructured services. Jackie developed and launched a drop-in facility at the main depot where Scott and his colleagues work, and this now provides
Jackie Saville – Training Officer at Salford City Council and UNISON member is our third energetic digital champion eight computers for staff to access council communications and online learning. Staff there recently took a ten-week basic IT course supported by Jackie and the ULRs. The learning centre means staff can also be encouraged to use BBC Skillswise, Go-On, Move On, and Next Steps learning resources. Jackie has ensured that operational staff have the same access to the council’s
communications systems as office staff with agreement from the Council’s ICT division, by obtaining network accounts for staff who complete the ICT security induction. Three PCs are additionally being installed in staff canteens to widen access further, which has been funded by income generated by the union’s secondment of the ULR to work on this project. Scott says: “In addition to IT courses, staff are now accessing foreign language courses, and being encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning and development. Jackie supports the ULR Forum at the council and ensures training is provided for operational staff outside of office hours to ensure it is accessible, including sessions at 6.30am to suit shift workers.” Well done to Jackie for being our third and final digital champion of 2011 Jackie can be contacted on Jackie.Saville@salford.gov.uk
AGE
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Dave Eva presents Graham Kingston ULR for CWU, at MDEC Royal Mail in Stockport, with his Age Champion Award
Graham Kingston
– ULR for CWU, at MDEC Royal Mail in Stockport
Graham Kingston won our award for the unionlearn ‘Age Champion’. Graham works at MDEC (Royal Mail Data Entry Centre) in Stockport. Graham has embraced the role of championing the older worker ever since Unionlearn launched its older worker-focused project activities in 2009. Graham has developed and delivered a range of activities taking into account the needs and interests of this group not only for his own union but for other unions and extended his support beyond the North West region to other regions as well as through national CWU activities Some of Graham’s activities have included:Staging various ‘open days’ at Mowbray House Learn Centre for Retired Members to promote IT skills; Delivering the CWU course ‘Computers For The Terrified’ to older members (majority 50+) of USDAW at Mowbray House, and to CWU members in the North Eastern region; Holding Open Languages workshops every Tuesday evening for PCS members at Mowbray House; Recently completed ‘Older Activists’ course through the TUC in Liverpool;
Graham Kingston works at MDEC (Royal Mail Data Entry Centre) in Stockport and won our award for the unionlearn ‘Age Champion’ Undertaken the ‘Digital Champions’ course with Digital Unite to ensure better knowledge with which to help older members get Online; Currently engaging with Royal Mail early shift staff in Stockport (entire shift is being cut) to offer IAG and CV advice, especially to those aged 50+; Promoting (via Worktime Listening and Learning sessions) ‘Casual Learning’ to members - especially those aged 50+; Developing a range of resources involving the input of older workers and which can offer “legacy learning” e.g. Multicultural Calendar and Recipe Book Janet Valentine at unionlearn works extensively
with Graham and says he “is not only an age champion but a learning champion and a champion of equality and diversity. Through his ULR activities he acts as a role model by overcoming his own barriers to learning as well as helping others to do the same. He has developed a range of innovative interventions that have been instrumental in informing Unionlearn’s strategy in developing measures to assist unions in addressing the learning and skills issues resulting from our ageing workforce”. Graham’s aspirations are to continue learning and to pass both enthusiasm and knowledge on to others. Graham says: “I feel that being a ULR is an extremely fulfilling role as you are able to turn the trust your learners/colleagues have in you into something that is life-changing for them - and this is all possible through the training I have received both through my Union (CWU) and organisations such as Unionlearn. So to them I say a BIG thank you! Graham was thrilled to win the Age Champion award at our conference and said: “I will certainly do my best to live up to your faith in my abilities” Graham can be contacted on: mdeclearn@ymail.com
COMMUNIT Y Griffiths ROSLAN Barbara
and DAHLIA – ULRs at Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC)
Dawn Sweeney is the lead UNISON ULR at CWAC and she nominated two of her colleagues as unionlearn Community Champions. In particular Dawn explains that Barbara has been involved with the Equality and Diversity Steering Group for CWAC and through her involvement with various groups (described below) she was instrumental in the opening of Chester’s first Multi-Cultural Centre supported by the Council in October 2011. Barbara describes becoming a ULR: “as a female in my late fifties, working a changing pattern of hours, an inexperienced / unconfident computer user, family commitments, rural home, working out in the community as a lone worker, and somebody for whom schooldays were not the happiest days of my life (red ink sales probably fell dramatically when I left school), I think I fall into the hard to reach group to engage in learning! I enjoyed my work as a community support worker for the local council, and wanted to read up about problems I came across at work. A Learning Zone was put in a building I occasionally visited, a ULR that came to the Zone showed me how to log on to the computers, and I was on the ‘learning –curve’. Since then I’ve been on ULR Stage1+2 courses, because I wanted to help others to
fulfil their potential, and get back into learning. The courses were great, and gave loads of information, support and were worthwhile. For me it is people that matter, I have empathy with people, for some, getting to use a computer is as big a step as it is for others to look at Higher Learning, both are equally important. As a people person I look at ways to fit learning into people’s lives, signing up for a course at a set time is not an easy first step for many. When you start looking it is surprising what help there is for people from CV preparation to Skills for Life (I got my Level 2 Numeracy a few months ago and can say it was nothing like school maths). “In the past six months I’ve done many things but confidentiality is important to me, partly due to my work with vulnerable people. I would not be comfortable writing about people but the knowledge and confidence that ULR training has given me means that when I come across an issue in the community learning opportunities get discussed with people and I give them the information that is relevant.” Meanwhile her colleague Dahlia Roslan says that: “becoming ULR has given me hope to pursue my passion to focus on diversity of culture. I love mixing and socialising. Best part, it gives me the tools and guidance to enhance mentoring skills. It makes me realise, it is never too late to learn nor too young to teach.
Last April, I found myself engaged with a netball team in Park High School. This was organised by women’s multicultural groups who link in partners with University of Chester, Birkenhead Sixth Form College, University of Liverpool and Wirral Metropolitan. Best part of this activity, my team consists of my daughter, niece, and sisters-in-law. That was awesome! This year we organised an “Eid Card Competition”. Initially the group focus is mainly on Islamic culture only. I have suggested opening the competition to non-Muslim. My aim is to widen interaction with the community, raising awareness for minority groups and opportunity to work happily. The winning cards for this event are printed and published. This was exhibited at the “Eid Party” at the civic hall, Ellesmere Port on the 13th of November. The exhibited winning cards will be on sale on the day and the next year to come. All proceeds will go to chosen charity which is Countess of Chester hospital. This is a joint effort from the multicultural group and Cheshire West and Chester Council.” Well done to Barbara and Dahlia, for successfully linking workplace union learning with activities in the community. You can contact Dahlia at: Dahlia.Roslan@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk and Barbara at: Barbara.Griffiths@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk
Barbara Griffiths, left, and Dahlia Roslan, ULRs at Cheshire West and Chester Council, with their Community Champion Awards
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APPRENTICESHIPS Amanda McNally
— Workforce Planning Support Officer and Lead ULR and union ULR Co-ordinator at Sefton Council, UNISON member
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Amanda was one of our two Apprenticeship Champions for 2011, nominated for the award by the branch Secretary of Sefton UNISON, Glen Williams. Amanda has been a ULR working actively with unionlearn for the last three or more years, building union learning in Sefton Council and successfully mainstreaming and embedding the union role in the corporate learning and development team there. One of Amanda’s main job roles is to support the apprenticeship programme at Sefton MBC, as well as promoting Skills for Life
Amanda was one of our two Apprenticeship Champions for 2011, nominated for the award by the branch Secretary of Sefton UNISON, Glen Williams and other workplace learning at the Council. Glen Williams points out that “Mandy McNally has worked tirelessly well beyond her contractual hours and job description to
ensure apprentices are properly recruited, fully prepared and completely supported throughout their time with this Employer. Mandy always ensures there is a trade union ‘slot’ in their comprehensive induction programme that links our union to young apprentices. In difficult economic times, Mandy has been a tremendous defender of the vital importance of Apprentices to the workplace and has frequently challenged when apprentices have been inappropriately used as job substitution. In short, Mandy has been a fantastic advert for all the positive benefits apprentices bring to any employer.” Amanda has recruited significant numbers of apprentices and found challenging and always appropriate placements for them. In the present economic climate this in itself is an achievement with reducing workforces and some significant resistance to apprentices. Never afraid to challenge the apprentice or Senior Managers, Mandy has been the greatest source of support (personal, developmental and professional) possible to the apprentices who all bring different challenges of their own and is an absolute credit to UNISON. The benefits to the apprentices will still develop in years to come. Glen says: “The role of the ULR is absolutely invaluable to opening educational and developmental doors to those historically excluded. ULRs compliment perfectly the role of the trade union steward and activist providing a different type of input and support to members.” Glen adds: “Mandy undertakes this role and the support on top of an extremely busy work schedule, a demanding role as Branch Treasurer and Women’s Officer and a leading trade union activist without ever complaining or seeking the limelight. This award will go some way to rectify the absence of the thoroughly well deserved limelight Mandy usually shies away from.” Amanda says: “I thoroughly enjoy being a ULR and a UNISON steward, I am proud to be the lead ULR for the Sefton MBC project, I have been involved in many apprenticeship programmes from recruiting young people to conversions for existing staff, no two days are the same which means every day is challenging, interesting and very rewarding.” Well done to Amanda McNally - you may recognise her as one of the glamorous ‘cover girls’ from the Summer 2011 Onward magazine!
Amanda McNally, Workforce Planning Support Officer, Lead ULR and union ULR Co-ordinator at Sefton Council and UNISON member with her Apprenticeships Champion Award
Amanda can be contacted on: Amanda.McNally@sefton.gov.uk
APPRENTICESHIPS
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Marie Reece,right, lead ULR for the UNISON-led union learning project at Aintree University Hospital Trust in Liverpool
Our other
Apprenticeship Champion for 2011 was Marie Reece, the lead ULR for the UNISON-led union learning project at Aintree University Hospital Trust in Liverpool. Marie has been running this project since 2009 when it was a unionlearn-funded Learning and Skills For All (LASfA) project, and has recently been successful in bidding for national UNISON ULF money to continue this work. Marie has worked consistently to embed union learning in the Aintree University Hospital Trust learning agenda, and to develop a productive partnership with the Trust’s Learning and Development Team.
Marie has focussed a great deal of the ULR support in the Trust on recruiting and supporting adult apprenticeship conversions, and this has resulted in 100’s apprenticeship completions at all levels, but especially at L2 for adults who did not have any previous L2 qualification. Marie has worked to support the Trust in engaging domestic staff, building maintenance staff, catering staff and portering staff in particular in learning and has recruited these to apprenticeships where they would not have been engaged by traditional corporate approaches. Marie has provided unionlearn with learners for national case studies on adult apprentices,
activities, eg the reception in the House of Commons last year.
Marie has been running the UNISON-led union learning project at Aintree University Hospital Trust in Liverpool since 2009 when it was a unionlearn-funded Learning and Skills For All (LASfA) project, and has recently been successful in bidding for national UNISON ULF money to continue this work and contributed to our promotional work on apprenticeships (including our ‘Apprenticeships are Union Business’ film). Marie participates in unionlearn activities to support other ULRs and help disseminate best practice, and attends national unionlearn
Further, Aintree Hospital’s partnership with its ULRs has been held up as a model of good practice within the NHS in the region in terms of engaging learners, especially apprentices, including in the NHS’s Learning Forums in the region. Marie has also worked with West Cheshire College and the apprenticeship course at this college has now achieved the Unionlearn Quality Award due to this partnership. Marie says: “Being a ULR has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, the satisfaction I feel when staff sign up to an Apprenticeship or other course is great and the pleasure I get when they complete and receive their certificates is immense. The nearest feeling I can describe to it is when you watch your child taking part in their first school play you are so proud of them - and that is how I feel when some staff get their first qualification!” Well done to Marie – you can see the ‘Apprenticeships are Union Business’ film at www.unionlearn.org.uk Marie can be contacted on: marie.reece@seftonhealth.org.uk
LIFELONG LEARNING
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Helen Duerden, SFL Tutor and ULR Co-ordinator at Liverpool City Council and UNISON member is a Champion of Lifelong Learning. She is shown here running the Book Exchange at Learning at Work Day at Liverpool City Council
Helen Duerden
– SFL Tutor and ULR Co-ordinator at Liverpool City Council, UNISON member
Helen Duerden works as a SFL tutor at Liverpool City Council and has also taken on the role of the ULR coordinator since early 2011, when funding for the full-time lead ULR secondment finished. Helen trained as a ULR in 2009 and has stepped up to take on the lead role supporting a team of ULRs across a very large organisation, as well as continuing her practitioner role as a tutor with the City council’s Adult Learning Service. Helen has worked extensively across the authority and beyond to bring together staff and groups of learners from the community and engage them in learning, as well as supporting and co-ordinating the ULRs from all unions across the council. Helen has been central to bidding for and delivering the recent UNISON ULF project in the North Liverpool Schools, which is working to engage school staff and parents in learning. Helen works with the Family Learning centres across the city, including providing courses for carers and other community groups, and supports the apprentices – both adult
Helen Duerden works as a SFL tutor at Liverpool City Council and has also taken on the role of the ULR coordinator since early 2011, when funding for the full-time lead ULR secondment finished conversions and young people in the council, and those employed in external organisations with Livepool Council’s Apprenticeship Business Grant. Helen organised the Celebration Event in Liverpool Town Hall in January 2011 which promoted union learning in the City Council for staff and the wider community. Helen was largely responsible for the Council achieving the NWEO Skills Award in August 2011, which recognised the partnership with the unions in learning.
Recently Helen has played a crucial role in the ‘Go On It’s Liverpool’ Campaign helping to sign up digital champions in the city and supporting unionlearn events for this. Over 1,000 Digital Champions were signed up in the city during the launch of this campaign and the aim is to achieve 5,000 by March 2012. The campaign is being held up as a model nationally for the way in which digital inclusion is embedded into the regeneration agenda in Liverpool. Helen comments that: “I love the variety of the ULR role – supporting apprentices, promoting Skills for Life, and working in the community to promote digital inclusion. The ULR role gives an extra dimension to my professional role as a tutor, and vice versa!” Helen adds: “the digital champion role is an ideal role for ULRs to carry out, to cascade learning in the workplace. It is also crucial for the wider community and ULRs in Liverpool have had additional training from UK Online in supporting learners to take their first steps in IT.” Well done to Helen – a well-deserved Learning Champion award winner! Helen can be contacted at: Helen.duerden@liverpool.gov.uk
LIFELONG LEARNING A
nnette and Drew have been
nominated by Denise Gordon, one of the USDAW project workers in the North West
Denise says that she has nominated these two reps from Argos Widnes as they “have saved and re-launched this learning centre. The company had meetings early this year and was considering closing the centre down due to lack of learners. We got Annette and Drew to be the new co-coordinators and in turn they got a team of six new learning reps and completely turned the centre around.” Denise added that “The Learning Curve is now buzzing with learners and also has people on waiting lists for some of the courses.” Denise says that Drew and Annette have achieved the following: >> New team of learning reps
>> 16 members doing sign Language course >> 14 members doing Spanish >> 10 members doing Maths and English >> Got all reps working as a team >> Developed their own website so all employees can access and read about the Learning Curve >> Got involved in the ‘Six Book Challenge’ >> Developed a Process Manual for the centre >> All reps have being trained on unionlearn’s ‘Climbing Frame’ >> Hoping to go for the Matrix standard next year
>> Recruited over 94 new members
>> Changed the way the manager was thinking
>> 71 members on the Apprenticeships course
>> Are in the process of developing their own newsletter, and
>> Have raised money for the learning fund doing raffles and ‘pound in the bucket’ which helps to subsidise other courses. >> Conduct all the new starters’ inductions and show them the Learning Centre. Annette and Drew have achieved all of the above in eight months which the USDAW project worker feels is fantastic and they are apparently already working on next year’s agenda. Additionally, two of the new reps have just completed levels two and three in their Apprenticeships in customer care.
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Denise says: “I feel that these two deserve some recognition for what they have achieved in a short space of time - their ambition is to be the best learning centre in the North West. Annette and Drew keep all the reps engaged in what’s happening which helps to keep them on board the agenda. These reps attend all the training sessions and are hungry for all the knowledge we can give them”
Annette Bott and Drew Welborne – Co-ordinators of ‘the Learning Curve’ – USDAW Learning Centre at Argos Home Retail in Widnes Annette says: “I get a lot of pleasure out of being a ULR, I love talking to our learners and hearing the stories about their road to learning and achieving. When I was first asked to go into our ‘learning curve’ as a ULR I was a bit reluctant, I am a shop steward and did not know anything about learning. There were about 5 learners on a course coming into our ‘learning curve’: we turned that 5 learners into 71 learners!” “Our ‘learning curve’ has gone from strength to strength. I am now one of two co-ordinators. I was really happy to win the Award and feel proud of what we have achieved.” Well done to Annette and Drew – they can be contacted on 0151 472 3490 or via Denise at denise.gorden@usdaw.org.uk
Drew Welborne and Annette Bott, co-ordinators of the USDAW Learning Centre at Argos Home Retail in Widnes, are two more of our Lifelong Learning Champions
LIFELONG LEARNING Paul Smith
has been nominated as our final unionlearn Learning Champion for 2011 by Jon Thompson, the Crew Manager at Leigh Fire station
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Jon says that Paul “has continually worked at providing additional learning in the workplace for his members of the FBU. Paul is now a full time professional firefighter and carries out his ULR duties at Leigh fire station”. Jon adds that: “Funding has been difficult to access for the fire service but Paul has been able to run PTLLS and CTLLS courses L4 with Bolton University. Additionally Paul has run successful Learning at Work and Celebration of Learning events, NVQ Team Leader with Wigan and Leigh College as well as supporting UNISON members’ access learning prior to redundancies being made for non-operational posts within GMF&RS. Paul has also been able to develop himself in
Paul Smith Firefighter with GMF&RS at Leigh Fire Station, and FBU ULR and Lifelong Learning Co-ordinator his role completing CTLLS, IAG L2 and swift water technician course.” The learning events have also been used to raise fire safety awareness in the community, courses have been opened up to other unions to access including PTLLS and CTLLS. Paul has also promoted fire stations for other unions to use or go into their workplaces to promote community fire safety.
Paul says: “Being a ULR and helping people to achieve their full potential is very addictive, once you start you’re hooked, funding has been difficult to access this year and more targeted but FBU Lifelong Learning has been able to support learning in the community, engage with older workers, develop skills and qualifications via Higher Education, as well as running innovative learning events promoting healthy living, team work and just making learning FUN!” “Remember – Learning is a journey not a destination!” Well done to Paul on his commitment to learning for his members, his work colleagues, and the community. Paul can be contacted on smithp@manchesterfire.gov.uk
Paul Smith, far left, firefighter with GMF&RS at Leigh Fire Station, FBU ULR and Lifelong Learning Co-ordinator is another of our Lifelong Learning Champions