Volunteers’ Week 2021
Lancashire Adult Learning is celebrating some of its volunteering star learners during Volunteers’ Week 2021.
Taking place from Tuesday 1st June until Monday 7th June, Volunteers’ Week is a national initiative. It is an opportunity to say thank you and shine a light on the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering.
Volunteering has especially come into focus over the last 12 months with the Covid-19 pandemic. Across Lancashire, LAL is recognising some of the star volunteers that tutors have supported through LAL’s range of volunteering courses. These have enabled learners to help out in their communities.
Marjorie Hayward, 75, Founder of Friends for You in Chorley, has worked with LAL for the last five years. Friends for You recruits volunteer befrienders to support lonely or isolated people in the Chorley area once a week.
Friends for You
Marjorie said: “Lancashire Adult Learning’s training forms three quarters of our course. This prepares our volunteers to become safe befrienders to lonely people.
“This means that Friends for You can reach out to the wider community in and around Chorley. GPs, Age UK, link workers, and Chorley Council can refer lonely people to Friends for You with confidence, knowing that we have properly, professionally trained befrienders to contact them.
“With the help of Lancashire Adult Learning, we have grown the number of volunteer befrienders we have at Friends for You from 40 to 110 since January 2020. This has helped us meet demand. The number of people we support has increased to 170 every week now from just over 50 previously.”
‘A great feeling’
Rachel Holliday, 22, from Adlington, is one of those learners who took up a course with LAL. She said: “I was just finishing my Fine Art degree at university when the pandemic began. I have previously had experience of volunteering, supporting children with autism with art sessions at Manchester Art Gallery and doing art sessions at Bolton Hospice.
“Through Lancashire Adult Learning, I’ve been volunteering with Friends for You during the pandemic. It’s a great feeling knowing that you are helping somebody through a befriending service. It has been good to get to know the people I have been supporting.
“LAL’s courses have been a great comfort during the lockdown period. The sessions were well structured and it was a good chance to socialise while learning new skills.”
Confidence boost
Uzmaa Rehman, 39, from Accrington, has completed several volunteering courses with LAL. These include a bitesize Business Administration and Customer Service course, Volunteering Into Employment and Supporting Your Next Career Move.
Uzmaa said: “I’ve done several volunteering courses with Lancashire Adult Learning. I want to get back into work after a period of ill health. They have really given my confidence a boost, and are also helping me towards achieving a career change and my aim of working in the NHS.
“I have been volunteering at the Barbara Castle Way Health Centre in Blackburn. I have enjoyed helping out there, meeting and greeting the people who come into the centre for appointments.
“Previously I worked in a Post Office as a counter clerk. Because of the excellent care, service and experience I have had with the NHS, I’m planning for a career change. I want to give something back and I would like to work in a healthcare setting.”
Learning new skills
LAL’s volunteering courses were perfect for Joyce Hargreaves, 60, from Nelson. Joyce has completed a wide range of them to keep busy and learn new skills after becoming unemployed.
Joyce said: “I work as a volunteer gardener at Pendleside Hospice. I have also recently started to help out with audio recording at Pendle Voice. This is a service that enables members of the community who are blind to keep up with local news and current affairs.
“I’ve really enjoyed the volunteering courses I have done with LAL, and the other courses too including horticulture. The quality of the courses is excellent, and they are very informative and sociable. The tutors have worked wonders during lockdown to support adult learners with courses through Zoom.
“I feel really positive and confident having attended classes. I am considering my options for the future. This could be part time work or further volunteering opportunities that are aligned to my interests.”
Keeping busy
Karen Lee, 59, from Heysham, decided to enrol onto volunteering courses to be a more active member of the community.
Karen said: “I’m an early retiree and I decided to take up volunteering courses with Lancashire Adult Learning to keep busy. My husband has also recently taken on the chairmanship of the neighbourhood committee.
“Helping to improve the village and make a difference for the wider community was another motivation. I have learned a wide range of new skills through the courses.
“I have also done a befriending course with Lancashire Adult Learning and I have supported Friends for You in the Chorley area. I have taken the skills I learned on that course and applied them to support people in Heysham village who have been isolated during the pandemic.”
Lancashire Adult Learning’s current range of courses under its Volunteering offer includes Befriending, Mentoring, Dementia Awareness, Building a Community Project, Equality and Diversity, Mental Health, Safeguarding and Volunteering into Employment.
Great pride
Tom Gee, Head of Curriculum for Employability, Skills and Volunteering at Lancashire Adult Learning, said: “Each year, we take great pride in the work our volunteering stars undertake in their communities and we enjoy saying a big thank you to them.
“In 2021, that is no different, and we are prouder than ever to celebrate the efforts of volunteers across Lancashire from the last 12 months which has been a period of time like no other in living memory.
“Here at Lancashire Adult Learning, we have a passion to increase the number of volunteers there are across the Red Rose County.
“Volunteering is really rewarding. Through our network of community partners, it would be great to use Volunteers’ Week 2021 to kickstart the training and support of a new group of volunteers wherever you are in Lancashire.”
To view the range of Volunteering courses offered by Lancashire Adult Learning, further information can be found on the website at www.lal.ac.uk, or by calling 0333 003 1717.
Lancashire Adult Learning’s course offer supports adult learners across Lancashire, and these are largely free, flexible and available online.
They include courses to boost health and wellbeing, options to retrain, classes to improve digital skills, and family learning opportunities.
LAL supports employers with Learning at Work Week offer
Lancashire Adult Learning is offering free new courses to support the county’s employers as Learning at Work Week kicks off.
Learning at Work Week is coordinated by the Campaign for Learning and runs from Monday 17th May to Friday 23rd May. The aims of the week are to promote lifelong learning at work and build learning cultures everywhere.
The new range of courses offered by LAL to employers and their employees run throughout May. They focus on Health and Wellbeing, and are designed to meet the needs of Lancashire businesses.
Courses cover three main areas: Relaxation, Mindfulness and Positivity; Creative Wellbeing; and Exercise, Health and Cookery.
Under the Relaxation, Mindfulness and Positivity area, courses include Simple Relaxation Techniques, Five Ways to Improve Your Wellbeing and Finding Positives in Challenging Times.
Creative Wellbeing courses offered include Singing and Music for Wellbeing and Creative Recycling and Eco-Crafts. Exercise, Health and Cookery sessions range from Chair Based Yoga through to Quick and Healthy Cookery.
All of the courses can be booked online through the LAL padlet for Learning at Work Week here.
‘Health and wellbeing has never been more important’
Danielle Thorpe is Partnership and Recruitment Officer for Lancashire Adult Learning. She said: “We’re really excited to be able to deliver a fantastic range of courses for Learning at Work Week to employers and employees in Lancashire wherever you are located.
“Health and Wellbeing – mental and physical – has never been more important. The breadth of our special course offer during May means there is something for everyone to get involved with.”
Lancashire Adult Learning offers a range of courses to adult learners across Lancashire, and these are largely free, flexible and available online.
They include courses to boost health and wellbeing, options to retrain, classes to improve digital skills, and family learning opportunities.
Further information on the new range of courses for adults can be found on Lancashire Adult Learning’s website at www.lal.ac.uk, or by calling 0333 003 1717.
Mural created by learners affected by cancer to be exhibited
A mural created by those living with and beyond cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic is to be exhibited.
The ‘Capturing a Moment in Time’ mural has been produced by Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Service users from West Lancashire. It has been created through a bespoke Lancashire Adult Learning arts-based health and wellbeing project. Some health professionals who have been supporting the service users during the pandemic have also taken part in the project.
Sunflowers and handprints
Sunflowers, a symbol of hope and new life, and handprints, to symbolise identity, connectivity and togetherness, are key aspects of the mural. The project has had a profoundly positive impact on health and wellbeing.
Learners – some of whom have been shielding – have managed isolation and developed new friendships during the project. Others have improved their digital skills, self-esteem and resilience, and have praised its therapeutic qualities.
The project began in September last year. Service users first built up the confidence to independently work on the mural by learning art techniques with LAL. These included zentangle (scribble drawing) and pointillism (repetitive dotting). The techniques are renowned for the calming effect they have on the mind and their ability to lower blood pressure.
An image of the finished mural will be printed on to material for an external exhibition in Ormskirk town centre. The mural will also be exhibited virtually at the Heritage England and Arts Council-funded Once Upon A Town in Ormskirk online gallery and museum this Spring. It will also be exhibited physically at the Chapel Gallery in Ormskirk in the Summer.
“I didn’t have an arty bone in my body”
Maggi Bradley was one of the learners on the project. Maggi, 54, said: “I’m really excited that the mural will be exhibited. I lost both of my parents to cancer last year and the project has helped me enormously with my mental health and my resilience.
“Before the project, I didn’t have an arty bone in my body and I thought art was not for me. I have totally changed my mind. I don’t think the others in the group realise what an immeasurably positive impact they’ve had on me. It’s the camaraderie, the laughter, and the learning of new skills together.”
Paul Green, 68, another learner, said: “I will be very proud to see our work published for everyone to see in West Lancashire and beyond. I have never really been keen on art. After attending the courses and seeing the development of the project, it became much more interesting.
“The project has led me to do a bit of creative writing. I have since written about seven poems in the last two months. It’s opened my mind to be a bit more creative in my old age.”
“The project has brought communities together”
Helen Draper, Health and Wellbeing tutor at Lancashire Adult Learning, said: “We have been working with Macmillan in West Lancashire for around 18 months. I’m delighted that we have been able to be flexible during the pandemic to deliver health and wellbeing sessions for their service users at a time like no other in living memory.
“The project has brought West Lancashire communities together during repeated lockdowns. Those people, with the added pressure and anxieties caused by cancer treatment, have been able to chat and laugh with one another and escape the realities of everyday life.
“The project has also realised a sense of achievement. Art novices are going to have their finished mural professionally exhibited at a gallery. It will bring the communities of West Lancashire together once again with the virtual and physical exhibitions.”
“We’re incredibly proud”
Caroline Flynn, Macmillan Information and Support Service Manager, said: “We really value our partnership with LAL. This latest project has been wonderful. Our service users have been encouraged to remain positive at a time when nobody in a generation had experienced what the nation was going through. It has also given them something to focus on and strive for as they progress through their courses of treatment.”
Jodie Taylor, Macmillan Information and Support Service Assistant, said: “Those attending the sessions have not only improved their health and wellbeing, they have also developed new art skills. These techniques can be used to support their health and wellbeing again in the future. We’re incredibly proud that the mural is going to be exhibited. Our service users are very excited to see the finished article.”
Adult learners in the Red Rose County are being encouraged to ‘take control’ and make a positive start to 2021 through a new offer of courses designed with the current climate in mind.
The new courses are largely free, flexible and available online. They include courses to boost health and wellbeing, options to retrain, classes to improve digital skills, and family learning opportunities.
Further information on the new range of courses for adults can be found on Lancashire Adult Learning’s website at www.lal.ac.uk, or by calling 0333 003 1717.
The Macmillan Information and Support Service in West Lancashire is hosted by Virgin Care, on behalf of NHS West Lancashire CCG.
Celebrating Maths and English success stories
Lancashire Adult Learning is celebrating two decades of delivering free Maths and English qualifications to adult learners.
The celebration has taken place on the 20th anniversary of the Skills for Life Strategy – a landmark Government initiative.
In March 2001, the Department for Education began a long-term programme to break the cycle of low literacy and numeracy skills in England. The target was to improve the skills of 2.25 million adults in England by 2010, and it was met over two years early.
The 20th anniversary of the launch is being celebrated nationally by those offering Functional Skills qualifications. A new report, funded by the Further Education Trust for Leadership (FETL), considers the lessons to be learned from Skills for Life. It asks how the next generation of policymakers might build on it to enable England to rise to the challenge of poor adult basic skills.
Lancashire Adult Learning and its precursors have enabled thousands of adult learners to gain Functional Skills qualifications. They are vital for people to achieve progress in their careers, to get back into work and support their families.
“I absolutely love my job – it is the best thing I have ever done.”
Rachel Duckett, 37, from Accrington was LAL’s overall Learner of the Year in 2017. Achieving Functional Skills qualifications enabled her to go into a career as a Teaching Assistant at Green Haworth CE Primary School.
Rachel said: “I absolutely love my job and it is the best thing I have ever done. I now support children’s learning in class in my role as a Teaching Assistant. I also teach a phonics class and provide specialist 1:1 support for two of our children with special educational needs.
“Achieving qualifications and developing a career has helped me develop educationally. I’m also a much more positive and confident person and our family life is much happier now.”
Mark Jones, 45, from Preston, works for Lancashire County Council’s waste management division. He was LAL’s Maths Star of the Year in 2019 after completing his qualification.
Mark said: “I wanted to better myself and improve my prospects. Doing my Functional Skills Maths qualification has done exactly that.
“Since achieving my Maths, I’m in a job four grades higher than I was previously and I want to do my English next. I absolutely love the job I am in. I’m always pushing Functional Skills to anyone because of what is has done for me.
“I had low confidence with Maths ever since I left school and now I have the confidence and ability to do sums in my head. My tutor was absolutely amazing and deserves so much credit for supporting me. He made the learning so much easier.”
Keelie Barrett, 44, from Burnley, boosted her career after gaining her Functional Skills Maths and English qualifications with LAL in 2017.
“I remember being worried that everyone else in the class would be younger than me.”
Keelie works at Burnley General Hospital as a NHS maternity support worker. She said: “I remember being worried that everyone else in the class would be younger than me. My tutor made everything so easy though, and I was well supported in my learning. I never felt uncomfortable asking questions.
“Achieving my qualifications has definitely given me the boost in confidence I needed and to encourage me to keep developing my knowledge. I’m now part of a team developing a new job role and training package for other maternity support workers. In my Trade Union education, I have completed my Diploma in Employment Law and I’m currently doing my Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety.”
“Having English and Maths at Level 2 are essential.”
Andrea Cowton, Head of Curriculum at Lancashire Adult Learning for Maths, English and ESOL, said: “It has been a wonderful trip down memory lane revisiting case studies of adult learners from previous years. It is fantastic hearing first-hand about the transformational impact Functional Skills qualifications have had on people’s lives – personally and professionally.
“Having English and Maths at Level 2 are essential. They open the door to so many opportunities in work, further learning and Higher Education. We are extremely proud of our Functional Skills offer at Lancashire Adult Learning. Our provision is free of charge and it is accessible to adult learners across the county, whatever their circumstances.
“We look forward to continuing to upskill Lancashire’s adult population, in line with regional skills agendas, and create more Functional Skills success stories.”
Adult learners in Lancashire are being encouraged to ‘take control’ and make a positive start to 2021.
New courses on offer are largely free, flexible and available online. They include courses to boost health and wellbeing, options to retrain, classes to improve digital skills, and family learning opportunities.
Visit Lancashire Adult Learning’s website at www.lal.ac.uk for more information, or call 0333 003 1717.
Skills for Life: Amanda Parry
When Amanda Parry, 32, from Chorley needed her Functional Skills qualifications in Maths and English to enable her to go to university and study Forensic Science, she got in touch with Lancashire Adult Learning.
Amanda did not quite get the grades she hoped for in Maths and English at school that would lead on to further study at university on the subject she loved the most – Science.
What’s more, Amanda required the achievement of both her Functional Skills qualifications within a year to support her plan of university and career progression, and she duly completed both with the support of LAL.
Amanda said: “I absolutely loved Science at school, which was down to my brilliant inspirational teacher, and Forensic Science was something I wanted to do.
“I had not achieved my Maths and English though, and required these for university. It was mental Maths and the contextualising of my writing in English that I struggled with. I had this belief that I couldn’t do it.
“I came to LAL and they said that it would take me two years to pass my Maths and English – but I said that it would not work for me with my university place, and that I had to do it one year.
“The tutor at LAL took my word that I would put the work in to achieve it within a year, and I had the support to do that – it was a really good learning experience.
“Now I’m a Science teacher – specialising in Chemistry – though I can also teach Physics and Biology. I’m really passionate about supporting underprivileged children, and to push them to achieve.”
To view our range of Functional Skills Maths and English courses, visit our website today at: https://www.lal.ac.uk/what-we-do/maths-and-english/
Skills for Life: Rachel Duckett
Rachel Duckett, 37, from Accrington thought there was no hope of a career for her after she failed at school.
Having three children of her own and a stepson at home kept her busy, and she was always ‘being mum’.
A chance meeting with a Lancashire Adult Learning tutor at her children’s school, however, changed all that.
She realised that there were courses for adult learners, and she began her journey towards a career as a Teaching Assistant.
The completion of several qualifications with LAL, including Functional Skills Maths and English, changed Rachel’s life for the better, and her achievements were acknowledged when she was named LAL’s Learner of the Year in 2017.
Rachel, who works at Green Haworth CE Primary School in Accrington, said: “I always thought that because I messed up at school there was no hope for me getting back into education, but Lancashire Adult Learning turned that all around for me – I could not have done it without them.
“I absolutely love my job – it is the best thing I have ever done. I now support children’s learning in class in my role as a Teaching Assistant, and I have additional responsibilities too.
“I also teach a phonics class and I provide specialist 1:1 support for two of our children with special educational needs.
“Not only has achieving qualifications and developing a career helped me develop educationally, I’m a much more positive and confident person and our family life is much happier now.”
To view our range of Functional Skills Maths and English courses, visit our website today at: https://www.lal.ac.uk/what-we-do/maths-and-english/
Skills for Life: Mark Jones
Mark Jones, 45, from Preston, says he recommends Functional Skills Maths and English to anyone after seeing the positive difference it has made to his life.
Mark, who works for Lancashire County Council’s waste management division, was Lancashire Adult Learning’s Maths Star of the Year in 2019 after completing his qualification.
Since achieving it, he is in a job four grades higher than the one he was in previously. As well as the qualification he achieved, Mark puts the confidence he has gained from it as the biggest result.
Mark said: “I wanted to better myself and improve my prospects and doing my Functional Skills Maths qualification has done exactly that. Now I want to achieve my English.
“I’m always pushing Functional Skills to anyone because of what is has done for me – and I absolutely love the job I am in.
“I had low confidence with Maths ever since I left school, but now I have the confidence and ability to do sums in my head.
“My tutor was absolutely amazing and deserves so much credit for supporting me. He made the learning so much easier.”
To view our range of Functional Skills Maths and English courses, visit our website today at: https://www.lal.ac.uk/what-we-do/maths-and-english/
Skills for Life: Keelie Barrett
NHS maternity support worker Keelie Barrett, 44, from Burnley boosted her career after gaining her Functional Skills Maths and English qualifications.
Keelie works at Burnley General Hospital and came to LAL to support her to improve her career prospects and widen her options for promotion and other roles within East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Four years after achieving her qualifications, as well as continuing as a maternity support worker, Keelie is now part of a team developing a new job role and training package for other maternity support workers.
She has also become active in her Trade Union, and is completing qualifications to support her role as a rep.
Keelie said: “I remember being worried that everyone else in the class would be younger than me. My tutor made everything so easy though, and I was well supported in my learning. I never felt uncomfortable asking questions.
“Achieving my qualifications has definitely given me the boost in confidence I needed and to encourage me to keep developing my knowledge in the future.
“In my Trade Union education, I have completed my Diploma in Employment Law and I’m currently doing my Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety.”
To view our range of Functional Skills Maths and English courses, visit our website today at: https://www.lal.ac.uk/what-we-do/maths-and-english/
Skills for Life: Sue Bottomley
A mum from Whalley who switched her globetrotting job working as cabin crew to fighting fires in her home county three years ago has not looked back.
Sue Bottomley, 47, worked for Virgin Atlantic for 22 years, and then as a personal trainer, before deciding in 2018 to pursue a career change as a firefighter working for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.
However, when it came to realising the dream of the career change, Sue discovered that she did not have the necessary Maths qualification to progress in her application.
She got in touch with Lancashire Adult Learning and passed both her Level 1 and Level 2 Functional Skills Maths qualifications in quick succession, finding out she had passed the crucial Level 2 qualification on the morning of her interview.
Sue, who was named Lancashire Adult Learning’s Maths Star learner in 2018, is now based at Preston Fire Station.
She said: “I absolutely love my new firefighting career. I’ve recently done a water training course, and the challenge and variety of work is what makes it so interesting.
“It’s a massive change from what I was doing before but it is something I had wanted to do for a long time, especially after becoming a mum, and I wanted a new challenge. When the opportunity came up, it was a ‘now or never’ moment.
“I’m really grateful that LAL was able to support me to change my career and I’ve definitely not looked back since making my decision.
“Functional Skills for adults are incredibly important qualifications, and I remember really enjoying the learning as well with LAL, having hated Maths at school because of the way the lessons were taught.”
To view our range of Functional Skills Maths and English courses, visit our website today at: https://www.lal.ac.uk/what-we-do/maths-and-english/
Lancashire mum describes LAL’s new Family Learning offer as a ‘lifeline’ as homeschooling returns
A mum-of-two from Thornton Cleveleys has praised Lancashire Adult Learning’s new homeschooling offer as a “lifeline” following the return of learning at home for the majority of school-age children.
Naomi Jensen has completed the newly-launched Homeschooling for Parents English course to support her son Oliver, aged nine, in his education, while balancing the care of her 14-month old daughter Harriet at home.
To support working parents who are balancing professional and/or caring commitments with schooling their children from home, English and Maths classes are being offered online free of charge and flexibly by year group by LAL’s expert Family Learning team, ensuring children don’t fall behind in their education.
In the sessions, parents will learn how to help their child blend their prior knowledge from their previous year at school, as well as have the chance to share ideas and resources that are available to further help them support their child while homeschooling.
There will also be the opportunity to ask the tutor questions about how their child has been taught in school, and parents can improve their knowledge to find the best ways to help their children with their English and Maths.
Naomi said: “I would highly recommend Lancashire Adult Learning’s Family Learning offer. It has been a lifeline for me in ensuring that Oliver does not get left behind in his learning. The tutors on the course are helpful and friendly, and don’t mind you asking questions or asking them to repeat areas of work.
“The way children are taught now at school and the curriculum they learn is completely different to that I did, and some of the terminology used such as fronted adverbials can leave you feeling unsure and confused about how best to support your child.
“I am now much more confident in this area, and we were also pointed in the direction of brilliant resources to help further. It’s also nice to know in greater detail what our children are learning at school.
“I have previously done other courses too with LAL, including Catch Up Maths, where I learned a fantastic new way of doing fractions, and a valuable course on Coding which is now on the curriculum with computing, and something Oliver really enjoys doing.”
As well as the new English and Maths offer, LAL’s new Family Learning provision for 2021 also includes a range of Science, Technology and Engineering activities for children to enjoy while feeding their imagination.
There are also family wellbeing sessions to sign up to, with everything from growing your own fruit and vegetables to yoga. For those who are considering a career in the classroom, there are opportunities to enrol onto accredited courses that can lead into employment as classroom assistants.
Andrew Parkin, Assistant Principal for Adult Learning, said: “With the return of homeschooling at the start of 2021, we understand how difficult it is for parents who are juggling work and caring commitments and the education of their children, and so we have rolled out our offer to support adults wherever they live in Lancashire.
“Balancing work and childcare is just one aspect of homeschooling, and our brilliant Family Learning team are there to support parents who may be struggling with or who are not be comfortable with the curriculum. The way children are taught and areas of study change all the time, and we are that helping hand.
“Alongside the important English and Maths classes, we also have relaxed sessions designed to get families together and share the benefit of learning – and I hope we see learners right across Lancashire take advantage of our new offer.”
Adult learners in the Red Rose County are being encouraged to ‘take control’ and make a positive start to 2021 through a new offer of courses designed with the current climate in mind.
The new courses are largely free, flexible and available online, and are delivered by Nelson and Colne College Group – made up of Lancashire Adult Learning, Nelson and Colne College and Accrington and Rossendale College.
They include courses to boost health and wellbeing, options to retrain, classes to improve digital skills, and family learning opportunities.
Further information about all of the new range of courses for adults can be found on Lancashire Adult Learning’s website at www.lal.ac.uk.
Enrolment can also be completed on the website, or by calling 0333 003 1717.