WEA North West Annual Report 2012-13

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

WORKERS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION NORTH WEST REGION

Annual Report 2012 - 2013 WHO ARE WE? Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is the UK’s largest voluntary-sector provider of adult education.

We provide learning opportunities for all adults with a mission to deliver educational provision for adults facing social and economic disadvantage.

Over the past year, we have worked with a range of partner organisations and have enrolled over 19,000 students on more than 1,300 courses.

Our students tell us that WEA courses have helped them to make new friends, become more involved in community activities, gain qualifications and get jobs!

WEA is committed to creating “a better world - equal, democratic and just; through adult education the WEA challenges and inspires individuals, communities and society.”

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

LIVERPOOL OFFICE:

MANCHESTER OFFICE:

CUMBRIA OFFICE:

WEBSITE & EMAIL:

Workers' Educational Association

Workers' Educational Association

Workers' Educational Association

http://nw.wea.org.uk

North West Region Regional Office

4th Floor, Crawford House

Trades Hall

northwest@wea.org.uk

Suite 405, Cotton Exchange

Booth Street East

39 Brow Top

Old Hall Street

Manchester

Workington

Liverpool

M13 9GH

CA14 2DP

Tel: +44 (0)151 243 5340

Tel: +44(0)161 277 5400

Tel: +44(0)1900 871 688

Fax: +44 (0)151 243 5359

Fax: +44(0)161 274 4948

Fax: +44(0)1900 871 688

L3 9JR

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

The continued support and commitment from WEA students, b r a n c h e s , vo l u n t e e r s , vo l u n t a r y members and staff have once again resulted in the North West Region exceeding its targets.

OUR ACADEMIC YEAR 2012 - 13 The WEA in the North West strives to make a “better world – equal democratic and just”, using adult education to change lives and communities. In the last year the Region delivered over 1,300 courses attracting more than 19,000 enrolments.

WEA North West targets disadvantaged communities with 60% of students from these areas.

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We offer a diverse programme with many courses incorporating a clear social purpose with educational outcomes.

Plenty of evidence supports the impact of our work in the four themes: community engagement, employability, health and well-being, and culture:

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Improved employability as a result of our coordination of the Community Learning Grants programme (funded by European Social Fund) providing small grants to community organisations in the region who run employability training. Over 158 organisations have so far been funded.

Improved health and well-being through work, including the Community Learning Innovation Fund project Living Life and Taking Part (combating social exclusion and isolation for people with disabilities) and the

Dementia Conference (held at Tate Liverpool) taking the WEA into areas of work where education can play a crucial, supporting role.

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C u l t u r a l c o u r s e s c o ve r i n g everything from art appreciation to our everyday passions for crafts, books and film help build understanding of human cultures.

Our links with museums and g a l l e r i e s reve a l h ow t h e i r resources and collections can support learning and help us to work together to be catalysts for social change.

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Community engagement of WEA students has increased as a result of developing approaches using popular subjects to get students thinking about issues that affect them and their communities. We seek to develop critically aware students; keen to learn and to act.

We believe in the power of learning to make a difference, not only to individual lives but also to our communities, and ultimately, society as a whole. We can be proud that in the last year we have played our part in making a better world!

Greg Coyne, Education Director, WEA North West Region

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“Community Engagement is an integral part of traditional, popular and much-loved WEA courses such as family history, gardening, IT or sugarcraft. “ Catherine Kay,WEA Learning Manager, Greater Manchester

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Our aim in WEA classes is to encourage students to take their learning out beyond the ‘classroom’ in order to make a contribution in their communities. This may involve organising an exhibition, carrying out a local survey or getting involved in community projects e.g. a community garden. We also encourage students to undertake research such as those on sugarcraft courses in Trafford who researched the importance of, and threats to, pollinating insects and added butterflies and bees to their cake designs to raise awareness of these issues.

Students on practical art courses in Salford, Trafford and Tameside considered topics around heritage and conservation and incorporated these themes into their paintings. Local councillors and the public were then invited to a display of their work and discussed relevant issues with the students.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

WEA community engagement education It is a theme that underpins much of WEA combats social exclusion and promotes provision; a class trip, some action research or the launch of a campaign. Building on students’ active citizenship. interests in order to engage them more in their communities is a real feature and strength of our approach.

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“Thank you, this was an amazing opportunity. I have wanted to do this course for two years and was not able to because of lack of finances, so the WEA supported place was unbelievable!”

WEA student on Permaculture course

DEVELOPING AN E N V I R O N M E N TA L C U R R I C U LU M I N T H E COMMUNITY We love taking WEA students into the great outdoors. Being physical in the fresh air is beneficial for both body and mind. Our Permaculture courses, which we run in partnership with The Groundwork Pennine Lancashire Trust, Offshoots Permaculture Project, Burnley, have gone from strength to strength.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

“I have gained in confidence with improved mental health. I have slept much better being mentally, socially and physically stimulated.”

WEA is an approved deliverer of the Full Permaculture Design Course, which can often be offered at a reduced cost to people with low or no income. Student progression after the course has been excellent with many people finding work, becoming volunteers or enrolling on full-time Permaculture courses with the Permaculture Association.

WEA student on Permaculture course

Elaine Bennet, WEA Learning Manager,

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“The WEA has opened up my life that little bit more. For example, on the Get Campaigning course I visited the Working Class Movement Library in Salford one evening and I found it very interesting. I have since spent a day helping catalogue some books and I plan on going back once a month to continue helping with this.”

Lesley Gilchrist, WEA student on Women’s Lives course

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

LEARNING WITH SOCIAL PURPOSE The WEA approach to teaching and learning is based around a long tradition of adult education aimed at changing our world and not just understanding it. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to get students to talk about ‘their world’ so we are very keen to explore a whole variety of ways of how we encourage this in our classes. WEA tutors are trained to make the classroom as comfortable as possible; to make people feel at ease. Last year I attended a short course on using ‘creative facilitation’ in teaching.

This approach enables tutors and students to explore themes and topics in a way that uses head-heart-and-hand language and actions. It’s good fun and quite liberating. Different activities can be used to explore topics: drama, artwork, cartoons, film, poetry. We ask our tutors: what ideas can you think of to use your subject area to provoke critical thinking, discussion and “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single debate, or help your students to take action?

Our online social purpose training module has moment before starting to improve the world.” been designed to help tutors to think outside the four walls of the classroom!

Anne Frank Bernie Kennedy, WEA Learning Manager, Merseyside

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

We can offer training for people wanting to become ‘community reporters/photographers’, learning champions, or for those who would like to set up their own learning group. We’re always happy to talk to people about how they can get involved.

VOLUNTEERING & MEMBERSHIP We are very keen to encourage students and partners to join WEA’s quest for ‘a better world - more equal, democratic and just’. As you can imagine, this is no mean feat and we need all the help we can get. WEA membership is free and we’ll send you information about events and opportunities to get involved in local and national activities.

Last year saw the launch of a series of events called What’s the Point of... (adult education/ newspapers/social housing etc.). This year we’re hoping to build on our national conference theme of ‘Community Resilience’.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

As well as providing lots of local activities and opportunities for people to engage with our themes, we’re also going to hold two regional events in spring 2014, and we’d love to hear from partners and members who would like to be “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life involved in the planning and helping out with the regional lectures or local activities and by what we give.” campaigns. So please get in touch!

Sir Winston Churchill

Phill O’Brien, WEA Membership and Voluntary Activity Coordinator

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“Within days of my interview I was offered the post of Learning Support Assistant on a one-to-one basis with a child starting in the Nursery. I love my job and look forward to it every day.”

Shelagh Lawrenson,WEA student on NCFE Level 2 Award, Helping in Schools

THE WEA APPROACH TO EMPLOYABILITY We know how important it is for many of our students to build their confidence and improve their employability skills. We believe that employment is the best way to combat poverty and inequality, and encourage social mobility.

WEA has a wide employability offer. Recognising and developing people’s skills and attributes is part and parcel of our approach to employability.

We offer training and courses to individuals and organisations looking to develop skills and build capacity in sectors such as education and training, health and safety, volunteering and community interpreting. These courses are often delivered in partnership with community and voluntary organisations, Trade Unions, schools and a variety of employers.

EMPLOYABILITY

WEA employability education develops confidence, understanding and skills to Let’s not forget, however, that every WEA course help adults, at all stages of their lives, has the potential to help some people gain the participate more fully in the world of skills and confidence to apply for, and get, a job! work.

Debbie Gayle, WEA Learning Manager, Merseyside

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

EMPLOYABILITY A significant proportion of participants (75%) have progressed to further education or training, volunteering, work placement, employment or selfemployment.

ESF COMMUNITY LEARNING GRANTS FUND The WEA has coordinated the European Social Fund Community Learning Grants contract for Merseyside and the North West over the past two years (2011-13).

We have given out grants of up to £12,000 to nearly 160 community projects who run activities that help unemployed members of the community get back into work or further education.

Nearly £2,000,000 in community learning grants has been awarded to local community groups in Merseyside and the North West, including Capacity Building Training. This training has helped funded projects to be more sustainable in the

future, and to continue their work within local communities supporting individuals to become economically active.

We recruited over 40 volunteers to join five independent sub-regional grant panels (Merseyside , Cumbria, Lancashire , Manchester, plus Cheshire & Halton) to assess, make decisions and provide constructive feedback to all the applicants. Many of those applicants initially refused were then able to resubmit successfully in later grant rounds with improved applications.

In total, 158 projects were successful in their applications to the community grants fund, amounting to the full budget

allocation for awards. More than four times this number applied to the fund demonstrating that there is a high level of interest for support in the North West.

training under our Capacity Building programme with 100 staff or volunteers successfully completing an introduction to teaching course (PTLLS).

A range of evidence suggests that the funds reached a significant number of organisations, with projects reporting that the grant had enabled them to offer new activities for the first time . The programme has also had a positive impact for lead organisations in terms of their own sustainability, capacity to access funding streams and ability to offer a wider range of services to their users.

Two thirds of our funded projects have either taken part in a training event or been awarded a small grant for bespoke

We are proud to have delivered such a successful project, knowing that it has made a real impact in the lives of over 3,500 beneficiaries and more than 150 community organisations.

Our thanks go to WEA staff and tutors, our partners Community Matters, Locality and Network for Europe as well as our associates who have helped make this project a success.

Ian McHugh, Helen Bryant, Alycia Hanson & Alice Wharton, ESF Grants Team

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“Courses are now designed around a range of real-life contexts within each of the theme areas (community engagement, employability, health and well-being, culture) to enable students to apply, practise and demonstrate these essential skills rather than just learning rote style.”

Susan Danaei, WEA Learning Manager, Greater Manchester

F U N C T I ONA L S K I L LS A N D T H E WIDER CURRICULUM What used to be called ‘Skills for Life’ has now become ‘Functional Skills’. It is still about developing and improving skills in English, Maths and IT, but a key change is the shift in focus to developing these skills through their practical application in everyday life and work situations.

It is no longer just about knowing the right words, coming up with the right sum or knowing how to switch a computer on - it’s more about practical skills application to carry out everyday tasks such as being able to read letters and information sent by schools/doctors/hospitals; using number skills to work out how much food to buy or how much paint is needed to decorate a room; using technology to plan a journey.

EMPLOYABILITY

Through a broad curriculum, WEA provision demonstrates the acquisition of critical thinking On the course I really enjoyed: “uploading to a skills, lively discussion and debate and encourages website and developing English skills more usually students to become actively involved in topics of local and national interest; in other words to have associated with GCSE and A Level English - research a voice and not be afraid to use it - lucky then that and writing a biography.” speaking and listening skills are also part of Functional Skills!

Andrew Holt, WEA student

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“Those who have attended confidence building courses are progressing into employment or volunteering, or have formed a plan of how to get there.”

Sarah Edwards,WEA Learning Manager, Cumbria

A H E A LT H Y AT T I T U D E T O LEARNING! WEA North West’s Health and Well-being courses have changed lives, strengthened families and have had a wonderful, positive effect on local communities! This year saw a wide range of Health and Well-being courses delivered through a network of partner organisations who value the high quality, imaginative courses we deliver. These courses are often specifically designed to meet the needs of different social, cultural and economic groups, or people in deprived neighbourhoods, who not only have lower life expectancy but also experience longer periods with limiting conditions in later life.

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Our Living Life and Taking Part project worked with people with disabilities in tackling social isolation, and ‘family learning’ courses have had a WEA health education combats health positive effect across generations. inequalities and promotes a social and preventative model of health and well- Students are also encouraged to get involved in critical research and active campaigning, thereby being. sowing the seeds for future health activists and healthier communities.

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING “I love this course because of the interaction; the feeling of belonging to something more than anything. It boosts your self-confidence mixing with other people.” Peter Flanagan,WEA student H E A LT H Y L I V I N G A N D COOKERY COURSES In Cumbria we have been working with various organisations such as Action for Children and Barnados, and have developed courses to encourage healthy lifestyles which impact on the whole family.

Parents learn how to prepare and cook balanced meals that they enjoy which are healthier and cheaper than convenience food and contribute towards a balanced diet. A variety of recipes were used to explore various taste sensations and the students sampled foods from different cultures. Interestingly, the recipes best

received were of Spanish and Indian origins. The paella seemed to be the most popular dish because it was tasty, healthy, cheap and easy to make! This was followed closely by a chicken curry.

Often, for various reasons, people have no exposure to shopping or cooking in a healthy and economical way. The courses provided hands-on sessions with embedded literacy and numeracy as well as the practicalities of: •

where to get the best quality bargains and how much different foods cost

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how to use foods in a number of ways so that people can buy in bulk (often cheaper) but can have different meals (more variety) how to store and prepare food properly and safely

For some of the courses we worked in partnership with local schools and the children were encouraged to join their parents and help make a meal which they could then take home to try.

The summer term saw a trial run of a ‘new’ course, co-delivering sessions with a local Credit Union incorporating

budgeting and finance into the cookery course.

The Credit Union provided resources around money management and discussed the impact of debt and the dangers of loan sharks, offering lots of invaluable help and advice. This was then followed by a very practical ‘cooking on a budget’ session.

The students really gained a great amount of understanding from such a diverse teaching strategy and we’re hoping to develop similar courses in the coming year.

Elspeth Moss,WEA Tutor, Cumbria

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Some of the students meet up in between lessons to crochet together and help each other.

CROCHET: MAYA’S STORY My work at the Bangladeshi Women’s Organisation began last October, when I began delivering a crochet course there.

The group was large and the women spoke very little English. Although most of the women seemed to know each other and some readily chatted away during their work, there were also some members of the group who seemed very isolated and friendless. One such student, Maya, arrived late on the second week. I greeted her warmly and asked her if she knew anyone; she pointed a class member out as her friend and I found her a chair there. The students on each side promptly turned away from her, and Maya was left isolated within the group. She was very withdrawn; head down, no eye contact, no

facial expression, never asked for help and no interaction with the other learners. I tried to engage her, but this was very challenging as she spoke almost no English. In the next five weeks she produced what could only be described as a ‘knot’, about the size of a fifty pence piece. She just did not seem to be able to grasp the technique however hard she tried. Eventually, with everyone else on task, I had the time to give her some intensive support. I knelt beside her and talked her through the stitches, with simple words and signs to help her to understand. She followed my instructions and copied my words. After she had produced several stitches successfully I praised her with “very good!” and she repeated “very good”. Some of the other

class members started to giggle, I gave her a reassuring hug and we all giggled together.

The following week I noticed that Maya’s head was up and she was talking to the women on either side while they worked.

Her confidence was growing and she started to progress with her work. The group decided that we would have a party after the last lesson of term. Maya was absent the week before the party and I was worried that her confidence had dipped and that she wouldn’t come back.

However, my concerns were misplaced.

She arrived the day of the party and entered the room with her head held high, and initiated a conversation with someone on the opposite side of the

room! She joined in the party, chatting and laughing with others in the group.

During the party she whipped a large rectangle of crochet out from her bag. I asked who had done it, and she proudly said that it was her work; a scarf for her daughter!

Maya’s work has progressed steadily and she is now a key member of the group.

The others often remark, “Look at Maya’s work, she’s the star student.

She’s going to be the teacher soon!”

The group are planning to exhibit their work locally in the autumn, and invite dignitaries from the community to share their achievements.

Shenna Swan, WEA Tutor

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

A new Befriending Scheme has been developed for the South Asian Community that has involved bringing young and older volunteers together with the aim of bridging the intergenerational gap, gaining positive experiences and providing help and support through shared activities.

T H E S O U T H A S I A N M E N TA L H E A LT H COMMUNITY AWARENESS PROGRAMME The SAMH-CAP was a 12 month pilot project targeting the South Asian community in particular, but also working with the wider BAME communities in Bury on issues surrounding mental health and dementia. The project was a multi-agency initiative supported by Bury Council’s Age of Opportunities fund. The project aimed to build strong, cohesive communities and promote independence and choice for mental health service users.

Training and support for volunteers was delivered to enable them to gain valuable work experience, develop new skills and build their confidence for future employability.

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Initiatives involved a series of training events for Imams and faith leaders in mosques on mental health awareness and the development of a “You are doing a brilliant job getting women to come sustainable Community Support Group. forward.”

Rehana Mohammed, WEA Learning Manager, Greater Manchester Participant on the SAMH-CAP project

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING 52.5% of WEA students are aged 55 or over. Our courses help address social isolation and can also offer education with a social purpose, using subjects like art and craft to explore feelings and attitudes to dementia.

DEMENTIA LIVERPOOL CONFERENCE Did you know that by 2021, over a million people will be suffering from dementia, two thirds of whom will be women? In 2012, the financial cost of caring for those with dementia was £23 billion. There are currently 670,000 people in the UK who care for someone who has dementia, whilst 80% of the elderly living in care homes have a form of dementia or severe memory problems.

As 2013 is Liverpool’s Year of Dementia, we thought that this would be a great focus for our project. With a £5,000 grant from Merseytravel we hosted a Dementia Liverpool conference at Tate

Liverpool which attracted over 50 attendees from 20 organisations.

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As a result of the partnerships created through the event we have: •

Linked with COSTA Coffee and Royal Liverpool Hospital to offer a series of monthly themed ‘Remember When’ events for people living with dementia, carers and family members. The themes include: Childhood Memories; Holidays; Liverpool’s Past Employers and Transport.

These utilise the great resources f r o m N a t i o n a l M u s e u m ’s Liverpool House of Memories.

Partnered with Maggie May’s café in Bold Street, Liverpool running fortnightly ‘Remember When’ events. Hearty nostalgic food such as Scouse, Ribs and Cabbage and Fish and Chips are provided free.

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Joined Liverpool YAD (Year of Action on Dementia) Group and Liverpool DAA (Dementia Action Alliance).

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Funded Dementia Awareness training with partner Redholme Memory Care for WEA staff and those from several external organisations including British

Transport Police, Arriva, and Merseyside Police.

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Raised the profile of WEA and promoted the positive outcomes for those living with dementia.

We’re not finished yet! Our journey continues as we plan to extend the Dementia Awareness training sessions to include other transport providers and retail outlets. We are continuing to build on our new partnerships and to design more innovative and exciting provision in this much needed area of health.

Richard Evans, WEA Learning Manager & Alex Whittle, WEA Development Worker, Merseyside

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“I would say that the projects have been very beneficial to some of our hard to engage people, which is exactly what we want. They certainly seemed to get a lot of satisfaction out of the creative process, and a great deal of enthusing and conversation took place, all of which provides a notable improvement in other areas of people’s lives.”

Kate McSweeney, Employment Support Worker, Booth Centre, Manchester

C U LT U R A L E D U C AT I O N I S FLOURISHING IN OUR REGION Our valued partnerships with cultural venues throughout the North West enable us to offer varied workshops run by professional artists in galleries, museums, libraries and theatres.

WEA students are a talented bunch. Arthur Brocklebank, pictured left in his self-portrait at Whitworth Art Gallery, was chosen to attend a photography masterclass with the renowned photographer Red Saunders, at the People’s History Museum in June! He had a very inspiring day: “Red Saunders is a top bloke and knowledgeable. The time went so quickly.” Arthur is now in the USA making food-related videos.

CULTURE

Key actions for the region include: incorporating good practice from projects into courses to expand our offer; developing, and sustaining, our strategic partnerships with cultural organisations; W E A c u l t u r a l e d u c a t i o n b ro a d e n s encouraging progression and increased access to higher education. horizons through understanding cultures, identities and environments embodying Andy Jurgis, WEA Learning Manager, Cheshire our commitment to social purpose.

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

“I see our partnership work with the WEA as key to the development of the gallery's adult audience; engaging with diverse groups in challenging and innovative projects and courses.”

Ed Watts, Adult Programme Coordinator, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

NEW TECHNOLOGIES We h a v e e m b r a c e d n e w technologies with open arms in the region. We have run film-making courses for students, tutors, WEA staff and volunteers; enabled tutors to film online lectures in archeology, politics and history, and creative writing; used blogs, Facebook and Twitter to spread the word about WEA, social purpose learning and all things cultural and empowering.

CULTURE

“We’re producing an app for iPads which can then be taken into care homes for people with dementia to interact with the art works that they have at the Whitworth. It’s very exciting. ”

David Dennehy, WEA Volunteer of the Year, 2012

Just look what some of our talented students have been up to: designing a fabulous, interactive app for people with dementia! In partnership with Whitworth Art Gallery, we set up the APPrentice course in which students co-curated the contents of WEA’s first interactive app for iPads (Whitworth Art Sense) which can be downloaded free from the app store.

Elaine Hutchings, WEA Learning Manager, Greater Manchester

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

One of the educational activities included a visit to the People's History Museum with access to the archive and a talk on images available from historic moments in the North West and beyond. The students loved it!

PHOTOGRAPHY Our Introduction to Photography courses are really popular. They provide a way for diverse groups of people to work together, learn something new and get out and about to photograph their communities, and each other!

Photograph above left by WEA student, Rob. Photograph above by WEA student, Claire.

CULTURE

In the summer term, a group of WEA students attended a digital photography course at Whitworth Art Gallery called Snap Judgement.

They produced an online magazine of their photography on the theme of portraiture and identity. After completing the course, one u n e m p l oye d s t u d e n t h a d t h e confidence to apply for a part-time job at Whitworth Art Gallery.

Although there were over 300 applicants, she got the job!

Jennie Keegan,WEA Photography Tutor

WEA North West Region

Annual Report 2012 - 2013

The WEA group were able to implement some of their workshop experience into their most recent performance ‘Say My Name’ at Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College.

DREAM MAKERS’ WORKSHOP WEA English and Drama students, better known as the Dream Makers drama group, travelled to Liverpool to find out about physical theatre. The students (most of whom have learning difficulties), were very lucky to experience a tailor-made workshop with Pierre-Yves Massip, one of the members of Compagnie ManganoMassip, the theatrical company from France.

Pierre showed the students how to use their bodies by demonstrating different physical theatre techniques. The group experimented with a range of body movements to express human development from birth to death and used their bodies to express how the seasons change.

The students and support workers thoroughly enjoyed working with Pierre and were grateful to Tmesis Theatre for helping to arrange the workshop and supporting everyone throughout “The whole play was beau/fully done. For me, to see the session. WEA really can make dreams come true! how each individual engaged was very moving.”

CULTURE

Audience Member

Kelly Corcoran & Claire Cooper, WEA Tutors

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