2009 Events Programme for Community Development Workers Now Available

The spring events programme for Surrey Frontline Community Development Workers Network is now available to download (click). Community Workers in Surrey can look forward to a range of events and training including 'Proving Your Worth' - a training day on evaluation and demonstrating value and achievement, 'Organising Events and Risk Assessment' and 'Planning a Successful Community Project'. All events are free of charge and are provided by Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership and funded by Surrey Learning and Skills Council. If you feel that community development is part of your role and you would like more information please contact Helen Thomas on 01483 487800 or email hthomas@surreyllp.org.uk

The BA Festival of Science 2009: Be a part of Surrey's big bang

Europe's largest, longest running Festival of Science comes to Surrey next year. Running from 5-10 September 2009, the festival, organised by the British Association for the Advancement of Science (the BA), has as its theme Creativity, Innovation, and Evolution. The week long programme of events featuring debates, workshops, talks, plays, films, excursions and field trips will be a celebration of the region's academic and business excellence in science, innovation and enterprise.

The Festival aims to attract as broad an audience as possible - the general public, schoolchildren and students, practising scientists, professional science communicators, policy makers, healthcare practitioners, lobby groups, NGOs and local businesses. The hundreds of events in the programme are set to take place at the University of Surrey and at a variety of venues in Guildford and across the county, from libraries and museums to shopping centres and bars.

The BA, established in 1831, is a registered charity which works to advance public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences and engineering. Local partners for the 2009 Festival, Guildford Borough Council, SEEDA, Surrey County Council and the University of Surrey, are hoping to make it the best Festival yet and to ensure it has a lasting impact.

Why get involved?

• The Festival is Europe's largest, longest established and most media-worthy science event
• Thousands of people attend hundreds of events
• It provides a great chance to raise the profile of your organisation with new audiences and to be part of a county-wide celebration of science, innovation and creativity.

You could:

• propose and organise your own event
• provide a venue
• sponsor an event with cash or in kind support
• help with publicising the Festival in your own publicity material (newsletters, websites) bring along an audience.

For more information and to propose an event visit the Festival website: www.the-ba.net/festivalofscience or contact Alison Burt, the BA Festival of Science Project Co-ordinator on Tel: 01483 689102 Email: a.burt@surrey.ac.uk

NEWSFLASH! Community Grants Launch for South East England (November 08)

Surrey Community Action have today announced the launch of their new ESF Community Grants programme which will focus on the most disadvantaged individuals who are unemployed/economically inactive and have difficulty in accessing mainstream provision and/or ESF. The programme can support a range of learning activities.
The first application deadline is 24th November 2008. This leaves less than two weeks until the closing date. The first Panel meeting to consider applications takes place on 15th December. Panel meetings are to be held six monthly. The South East Region Community Grants programme is funded by the Learning & Skills Council and European Social Fund (ESF) and managed by Surrey Community Action.
For more information about the new grants programme please contact the grants manager at communitygrants@surreyca.org.uk or download the grant criteria and application form now.

VC Skills Increases Skills for Life Awareness

The VC Skills Project was a £1.1 million three-year project funded through ESF and match funding, led by Portsmouth Housing association with a wide range of regional partners, including Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership. The project, which began in June 2005, was designed to develop the capacity of tutors, as well as those working in a support or front line capacity in the voluntary and community sector, to support disadvantaged adults with Skills for Life needs.  Through a programme of training and support the project engaged with over 220 beneficiaries with the majority achieving an accreditation at level 2 or 3.
The project has recently finished, and an evaluation report has been produced to help other partners share from its success and learn from best practice and recommendations made as a result of the project.  To download your free copy of the evaluation report please click on this link.

Adult Learning in Surrey Website Launches

This September sees the launch of Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership's new sister website www.adultlearninginsurrey.org.uk. The new website brings together information about taking up adult learning, grants and funding for learning, how to access support and guidance services and a new postcode-based search facility to help Surrey residents find their nearest learning opportunities.
To request an entry on the adult learning database, or to give your feedback on this exciting new website please email landrews@surreyllp.org.uk

New Lives Through Learning
A new booklet celebrating the stories of Surrey communities who have decided to improve the quality of their lives through learning is now available to download.  It highlights some of the impressive stories that have come to the attention of the Partnership.  Every project is different and worth reflecting in its own right, but some common threads appear.  For example, it is clearly very important for the first ideas and impetus to come from people living in the very community that is the focus of the project.  There are always obstacles to overcome so it requires plenty of imagination to see what can be achieved and plenty of hard work to see it through.

On many occasions the people pushing for change in the lives of their community have forged relationships with several agencies.  It is difficult to see how many of these projects could have succeeded without the collaborative efforts of various organisations, each making its own specialist contribution.  In some cases new collaborative structures have been created to support projects.

A wide range of funders have contributed to the success of these initiatives, especially in helping get ideas off the ground.  Once established, most projects are able to survive through a mixture of mainstream funding for learning supplied through colleges or adult and community learning, voluntary work, self-finace and various ingenious ways of raising funds.

Certainly many learners have had to be coaxed into taking part, and a common feature of all these projects is the time spent by the leaders on creating the conditions for people to feel confident enough to participate.  However, this booklet shows what sheer joy, fun and satisfaction learning gives people who are often unfairly labelled as 'hard-to-reach'.

You will also find plenty of evidence that community learning is good for the local economy and the well-being of society: people getting back into work, going on to further learning, keeping off their sick beds, giving freely of their time to help others.  It is one marvellous story after another.

New Lives Through Learning- Good Practice in the Surrey Community