Puppeteering was part of the Learning Revolution!
A Community group in Tandridge that works with African refugees wanted to put on a community celebration that not only included all the families that they were working with, but also attracted all age ranges. Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership supported them in writing a bid to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills who this year teamed up with Campaign for Learning to provide small grants of up to £250 for this year’s Family Learning Festival.
The successful bid allowed the group to work with Hubble Community Enterprise to provide a therapeutic and sharing experience for twelve families. The aim of the day was to provide an opportunity for different family stories to be told using puppets, music and storytelling. All the families involved were refugees or asylum seekers from Zimbabwe and Sub Saharan Africa countries.
Everyone was taught basic puppetry. By the end of the session, everyone had taken part in some activity which included puppet theatre performances to music, accompanied by singing and dancing. The event finished with a party to celebrate.
Finding Tutors for Community Groups
In South East Surrey we have created an informal IT tutor network and online forum in response to requests from community groups for a simple way to find tutors with the training and experience to work in community venues.
Tutors met together for the first time in order to co-ordinate Silver Surfer events for Adult Learners’ Week 2009 and share ideas as to how to raise awareness of the importance of helping those aged over 50 to access the internet. Digital Unite gave a presentation on its campaign to ensure that the elderly are not left behind in the ‘Digital Divide’. As a result of the network many events were organised for Silver Surfers Day with a co-ordinated Skype and webcam chat taking place between the various events. The Box Hill Project reported 50 interested visitors and the Longmead Centre had over 30 participants.
