About the Support Programme
Community Learning Champions Support Programme
This programme is funded by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, known as BIS. It came about because of the government's commitment to informal adult learning outlined in the Learning Revolution, a white paper published earlier this year.
The Support Programme is led by a consortium of partners with knowledge and experience of developing and supporting similar schemes.
What the Learning Revolution says about Community Learning Champions
It demonstrated recognition of the important role played by Community Learning Champions:
'..we want to do more to make sure that people who experience disadvantage can benefit from informal learing. So we will introduce a new package of support for community learning champions, learning ambassadors and other foot soldiers. Community learning champions and learning abassadors are part of the vital cadre of foot soldiers who can encourage peers, neighbours and friends to take up learning.
There are many community learning champion schemes operating around the country. A February 2008 report commissioned by NIACE estimates that there were around 985 learning champions operating across at least 44 schemes, including both paid and volunteer champions.
However, there is currently a lack of strategic leadership and coordination between these schemes. We need to learn from the best practice and provide more opportunities for support and development. Learning from effective practice in the most successful schemes, we will invest up to £3m, engaging a national delivery partner or partners to design and implement a national support programme, to include: a network and national advisory group, regional events and an annual conference for community learning champions, a light touch system for assuring quality, improving outcomes and improving data sharing to track outcomes, a coherent training and development framework and access to continuing professional development, successful and sustainable approaches to recruiting volunteer champions.
We will ensure that learning champions are able to make strong links with the new adult advancement and careers service network as they develop, so that adults can be referred for high quality information, advice and guidance.
CLG's Take Part local pathfinder programme is encouraging people to take part more actively in their local area. The programme will develop resources that can be adapted by local authorities to build the knowledge, skills and confidence of local people so they can participate more fully in their communities and take up civic roles. We will ensure that strong links are developed between the Take Part programme and the support arrangements for community learning champions at the local level.'
Who is leading the programme?
The consortium leading this programme - Martin Yarnit Associates, NIACE, the WEA and unionlearn - has many years of experience of developing informal adult learning and supporting Community Learning Champion initiatives.
NIACE and MYA ran two national conferences in 2006 and 2008 for learning champions.
What they said, loud and clear, was that they wanted:
- Support at a national level which would enhance the Community Learning Champion role, including funding, a website, a national and regional network for CLCs
- Recognition of the value of Community Learning Champions at a national level and at a strategic level in local areas
- A nationally recognised identity for CLCs
- Relevent, appropriate and nationally recognised training
- A common way of collecting of data to show the benefit of the schemes
We hope that you will find what we plan to do will help you do the vital job of supporting new learners in the communities. Please contact us with comments and suggestions info@communitylearningchampions.org.uk.
MYA laid the basis for the Learning Champions Support Programme (now set out in The Learning Revolution) through their 2008 review of CLC initiatives.
NIACE has long worked to increase the number of adults engaged in formal and informal learning, and to widen access and achievement for those communities under-represented in current provision
The WEA's hallmark is the involvement of learners themselves in the planning, delivery and governance of a broad and responsive education programme. It leads four regions in the Take Part programme.
Unionlearn is the TUC's learning and skills organisation, founded in 2006 and jointly funded by the TUC and the government. It has developed a network of 23,000 union learn representatives.
