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A report on WEA Learning for Community Involvement Project
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Getting InvolvedA report on WEA Learning for Community Involvement Project
2/Getting Involved
Acknowledgements
This end of year report has been produced as part of an Association wide adulteducation project, co-ordinated by WEA West Midlands Region (2009-2012). It hasbeen supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)via the Empowerment Fund.
We wish to thank all WEA staff, sessional tutors, learners and volunteers and partnerorganisations who took part in project activities during the year and contributed tothe report.
For further information please contact Howard Croft, LfCI Project Coordinator, WEA West Midlands on 0121 237 8133 [email protected]
Cover picture: International Women’s Day event, courtesy of WEA Yorkshire andHumberside Region
ContentsForeword 3
Introduction 4
Active Citizenship 5-7
Health, Fitness and Personal Development 8-10
Information and Communications Technology 11-13
Other LfCI Projects 14
Afterword 15
Getting Involved/3
Foreword
The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) has a long history ofempowering individuals and groups of people by providing themwith the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to effectchange in their own communities.
This report explores examples of community development activities, delivered bythe WEA in England, that have contributed to the community empowermentagenda. It provides nine case studies of how the WEA has supported localauthorities and local communities to help build active and inclusive communities,and explores the impact of this activity on the communities themselves.
The case studies in this document form part of a Learning for CommunityInvolvement (LfCI) project supported by the Department for Communities andLocal Government (DCLG) through grant aid from The Empowerment Fund. TheFund is part of the wider framework to meet targets within Public ServiceAgreement 21 – to build more cohesive, empowered and active communities.
I hope this report will enable better understanding of the importance of investing incommunity development and its contribution to empowering people’s lives, andalso encourage others to become involved.
Richard BolsinWEA General Secretary
4/Getting Involved
Introduction
The aim of the three-year Learning for Community Involvement (LfCI)project (2009-2012), coordinated by WEA West Midlands region, is toengage adults from disadvantaged communities in learningprogrammes and activities, within the curriculum areas of ActiveCitizenship, Health, Fitness and Personal Development (HFPD) andInformation and Communications Technology (ICT), that will enhancetheir capacity to influence decisions in their local community.
A key strand of project workduring year one involveddeveloping new educationalprogrammes around the theme ofcommunity empowerment indifferent geographical and socialsettings through WEA regions in
England.
To help achieve this, an Activities Fund wasestablished for proposals from WEAEnglish regions. Round 1 supported smallscale pilot educational programmes andactivities that:
■ enhanced learner awareness ofcommunity involvement issues
■ pinpointed ways in which they caninfluence local decision makingprocesses
■ provided some of the necessary skills,knowledge and confidence
The majority of applications received were of a veryhigh standard, detailing innovative and inspirationalthinking linked to project based work aroundimproving learners’ skills, knowledge andconfidence that will enable them to become moreactive citizens and influence how theirneighbourhoods are run.
We were able to go ahead with 20 projects andactivities at a cost of around £80,000. While theproject was initially designed to meet Public ServiceAgreement target National Indicator (NI) 4 – peoplefeeling they can influence decisions in their localarea – three other indicators have been included ascriteria by which we can assess impact andparticipant feedback:
NI 1: People from different backgrounds get on welltogether in their areaNI 2: People feel that they belong to theirneighbourhoodNI 3: People engaged in civic participation
This report highlights nine community developmentactivities that were developed and delivered duringyear one of the LfCI project. They are organisedunder the three curriculum areas, and there is also around up of the other programmes and activities.We hope this will give you a flavour of the activitiesour tutors, partners, learners and volunteers haveengaged in.
Introduction to
Active Citizenship
There is a commonly held myth, dominating much of the public debatearound political disengagement, which asserts that British people areapathetic. Contrary to this, there is a wealth of research and grassrootsevidence that interest in ‘political issues’ is high and pressure politics
and campaigning has been growing significantly for many years.
However, there is a widespread sense that people feel their views and interests arenot taken into account. That, as citizens, they have little influence over politicaldecisions.
Active Citizenship Learning is about enabling people to have more real influenceover the bread and butter issues that affect their lives. It is about increasing realparticipation in their local communities and having more say in decision-making.The ideal of learning for Active Citizenship is that people should have more powerover their own lives, and shape the society in which they live by developing theirskills, knowledge and confidence.
In the words of Nelson Mandela “Education is the most powerful weapon whichyou can use to change the world.”
The case studies that follow provide a snap shot of some of the innovative learningactivities and the inspirational active citizens from diverse backgrounds andcommunities who have come together as part of the LfCI project to engage in thisprocess of making sense of the world in order to change it for the better.
“The workshops have inspired me to become an active school governor’
“This will help me understand all the aspects of the appeal system usedin immigration”
“I will be talking to and trying to teach my granddaughters to be moreactive.”
Getting Involved/5
Many minority communities have immigration issuesand do not have the knowledge of the system or oftheir rights to be able to understand the implicationsof their status in the UK.
In this project we developed and delivered, inpartnership with the Migrants Resource Centre, NotreDame Refugee Centre and the OISC (Office of theImmigration Services Commissioner), a 21-hourprogramme to provide participants with up to dateinformation on aspects of immigration. Run as anevening course, it took an overview of immigration,nationality and refugee legislation and practice.
Learners included members of minority communities,community interpreters, bilingual advocates, andpeople working in hostels, advice centres, communityorganisations and other contexts where they comeinto contact with people with immigration issues.
Participants were encouraged to reflect on and sharetheir own experience, both personal and professional,through practical research activities and case studies.Visiting speakers from our three partner organisationsdelivered talks on their practice and procedures, anddetailed information on possible progression andregulation routes was provided to learners. Topicsincluded visa types, categories of asylum seeking,appeals if applications are refused, durations of staysunder different categories of the entry clearance
system, entitlements to public funding, andentitlements to work (for the visa holder, spouseand/or dependants).
In their feedback participants have talked aboutfeeling enabled to support and subsequentlyempower members of their own communities tounderstand their rights and entitlements. MoreoverWEA London Region’s continued success in deliveringcommunity interpreting and other relevant training hasidentified a need for further specialised knowledge-based training to help learners develop useful skillsand to enhance their work in their communities.
The course has helped participants to signpostmembers of their communities to relevant legal adviceagencies. It has also helped them challenge some ofthe received notions and prejudices around asylumand migration, both within their own neighbourhoodsand in the wider community. For more informationcontact Phyllis Acosta [email protected]
Learner Voice“It has given me a better understanding ofHome Office Border Agency policies… theknowledge has given me a lot of confidence tounderstand complex terminologies andlegislation when interpreting for new migrants .”
Project 1Introduction to Immigration, Nationality and AsylumIssues held in London(WEA London Region).
A number of recent active citizenship initiatives havetargeted groups to ensure equality of access to skillsdevelopment, capacity building and civicengagement training. We built on this movement andused past links with voluntary and communitywomen’s groups to invite women to an event markingInternational Women’s Day; over 60 women attended.
Participants could choose interactive workshops from:Women and Campaigning – looking at campaigns pastand present including the suffragette movement;Women and Faith - a panel of Christian, Muslim,Buddhist and Atheist women having an opendiscussion about women’s emancipation and the rolefaith plays in women’s lives; Making our Voices Heardacross the World – speakers from Yemen, South Africaand Kenya talking about their activism and campaigningbefore coming to this country and how they continue tocampaign within the UK; and How to Campaign usingthe Internet - using a range of practical activities to beheard via digital communication.
This event added value to existing WEA provision, as itlinked with the Take Part Pathfinder programme, aTransformation Fund project, Train the TrainersProgramme and Northern College courses onInternational Development.
Returning and new learners took part in a follow-onstudy visit to the Pankhurst Centre and a walkfacilitated by URBIS (an exhibition centre) to places inManchester with some connection to women’ssuffrage. Also, learners were encouraged to join a Cityand Guilds Active Citizenship Award, providing an in-depth exploration of community activism. For moreinformation contact Shirley Allen-Jackson,[email protected]
Learner Voice“ I have since become more involved using newtechnologies to communicate about politicalevents in the run up to the elections. I now usemy Twitter account more actively and havecontacted my local MP candidates raising anumber of questions and issues.”
In partnership with Barnardo’s Sure Start SouthChildren’s Centre, two citizenship workshops weredelivered to parents and carers. Workshops providedan opportunity for participants to discuss healthissues with health professionals. They alsoestablished a local ‘health agenda’ and discussionaround how to influence health services.
In the first workshop learners were introduced to thelocal Health Improvement Plan and developed anunderstanding of how policy translates into practiceand impacts on everyday life. Small groups thenidentified the elements of an “ideal healthy community”and what they would want active citizens to do in orderfor them to achieve their ideal. They were then asked tocarry out research to find out how representative theirviews were. In the second workshop the group agreedfour priorities on which they would like to campaignand were taken through a planning process designedto empower them to put their ideas into action bycontacting support groups and local authorities.
Getting people to share ideas allowed participants tolearn from each other. Some were already quite activeon a voluntary basis, whereas others had noexperience and didn’t know where to start. By the endof the workshops all learners expressed a desire tobecome more active members of their localcommunity.
Some have contacted their local Healthy InitiativesOfficer to campaign for better and more appropriatecommunity facilities (local play park). Some plan tobecome volunteers with the Children’s Centre, andsome want to become school governors. For moreinformation contact Julie [email protected]
Learner Voice“It enabled me to voice ideas and opinions; thishas given me confidence and will be helpfulwhen having community based discussions withlocal service providers.”
Project 2International Women’s Day Event held at theSheffield Learning Centre (WEA Yorkshire andHumberside Region)
Project 3‘Speak Out on Local Issues’ held inCarlisle, Cumbria (WEA North WestRegion)
Introduction to
Health, Fitness and PersonalDevelopment Projects
It is been widely documented that sustained health improvementrequires lifestyle changes, but how can individuals be encouragedto make changes without properly understanding the reasoningbehind it? This is why tailored health education plays a pivotal rolein communities, particularly in some of the most health andeducationally deprived ones.
Better health awareness through adult education programmes can enhance thequality of life for people and reduce the number of premature deaths. With a focuson prevention, health education also reduces costs (both financial and human) forindividuals, employers, families, communities and the Government. Therefore thenatural progression for the WEA’s Health Fitness and Personal Developmentcurriculum was to empower individuals to take the next step; and get involved.
The health activities showcased here demonstrate how individuals have beenempowered to take a more proactive approach to influence their health and healthservice provision. From learning how to participate in local health forums tocampaigning on an estate for better facilities for organic gardening. All projectshave actively involved learners in fun, informative and engaging activities which canbe easily replicated in other geographic and social settings.
“I feel that I am making a difference to the provision of local mentalhealth services and to enable others to access these services”
“This workshop is the first time anyone had explained to me howmeetings work and what to expect, this should be done at school”
“I am now confident enough to attend meetings with service usersand providers and to voice my opinions effectively during meetings”
8/Getting Involved
An Eastfield Tenants’ and Residents’ Associationgroup were keen to become more active in their localcommunity by growing food produce on their estate.They didn’t know how to go about it, so we delivereda series of enrichment activities to explore organicgardening and herb growing for community use inpublic spaces. The residents’ group helped us attractand engage more people to the project. We beganwith a study visit to Todmorden to gain inspirationfrom a similar and successful project. We then workedwith the group on a community project to grow fruit,vegetables and herbs in eight planters.
NHS Altogether Better project staff attended thegroup’s planning meetings and will host a Community“Cook Off” when the produce is ready to harvest.Eastfield Parish Council members also got involved inplanning. To expand campaigning skills, a trip to WEASheffield Learning Centre DVD making workshop tookplace. The result was a DVD to campaign for moreawareness and sustainable funding for IncredibleEdible Eastfield.
This project goes on. Local primary schools haveagreed to ‘adopt a planter’ so that children can learnabout organic gardening and healthy eating. YorkshireCoast Homes is pinpointing areas of land ownedwhich can be used for residents growing produce,while representatives of Scarborough Training Centrefor Adults with Learning Disabilities, attended
meetings and have offered to make raised beds forfuture community gardening projects.
Participants understand more about planning aproject and campaigning for better facilities, withsome practical skills to help them. They know who tocontact for support and have more confidence to doso. Meetings and visits have encouraged learners tospeak out in front of other residents and offer theirthoughts on how their area can be improved. Learnersare now more able to identify the decision makerswithin the area and work with them. Residents havemade social contacts and friendships that haveenhanced confidence.
Finally local people have indeed influenced localdecision making, as the Parish Council agreed tomake a financial contribution towards the cost of theplanters. Meanwhile, Scarborough Borough CouncilParks and Gardens Department have agreed to orderand deliver the ‘planters’ and be involved in aCommunity Planting Day. For more informationcontact Dianne Quinney [email protected]
Learner Voice“This is a very good way of encouraging peopleto become more involved in community life andit is definitely a way of influencing things for thebetter too.”
Project 1Incredible Edible Eastfield, Eastfield Estate,Scarborough (WEA Yorkshire and Humberside)
To reach our target groups we developed newpartnerships with two local organisations, theLeicestershire Local Involvement Network (LINk) andLeicestershire and Rutland carers’ organisation(CLASP) to deliver three workshops. Carers andthose wanting to become active members of theLeicestershire LINk wanted to build better and moreempowered relationships with health professionalsand local health forums.
The first workshop aimed to build learners’ confidencein talking with their local doctor and other healthprofessionals. The second workshop aimed to developconfidence in speaking out at public meetings. Lookingat the conventions and jargon used, each learner tookpart in an activity to ‘demystify’ participation inmeetings.
Both partners played key roles in planning andsupporting the workshops. Carers were recruitedthrough CLASP for one workshop and we recruitedlearners through placing an advert in the LINkmagazine. A worker from CLASP supported the carers’workshop and a LINk worker supported each of thetwo LINk workshops
Generally awareness was raised of forums that learnerscould take part in, such as Local Information Networks,patient participation groups and GP and Primary CareTrust (PCT) surveys.
Learners said that they were more confident speakingup for themselves and taking up issues of concern attheir doctors’ surgery or when talking to healthprofessionals. Learners would now consider joininghealth interest groups, patient participation groups,attending LINk meetings and finding out about theirlocal ‘Get Involved Campaign’. Some would nowconsider volunteering as a committee member of LINk.For more information contact Cherry [email protected]
Learner Voice“I will take on board that the Doctor has the rightto say ‘no’, but I have the right to question his‘no’.”
Adult volunteers of WHiST (Women’s Health in SouthTyneside), a women’s mental health communityproject in a deprived area of South Shields, identifiedthe need to increase confidence and skills so theycould advocate for better services for thoserecovering from mental health issues.
WEA supported the project by designing and deliveringa ‘Women Making a Difference’ course. It providedinformation and skills to enable volunteers to activelyparticipate in wider community forums and pointcommunity centre users towards relevant sources ofinformation and support.
So that volunteers could attend other communitygroups in the area and promote the activities at WHiST,we added hand massage sessions as an incentive. AnICT course, on how to produce promotional material toshare in the wider community, was also included.
Participants spoke at local forums and communitygroups, including Consensus, a patient and publicmental health forum for South of Tyne & Wear andHealthnet, a local strategic health forum.
Beneficiaries are now better able to participate withconfidence when attending voluntary and statutoryorganisations and community groups. They are nowengaging with local BME groups to develop new links,enabling them to access services. They are attendingmental health user forums feeding information to thelocal NHS, and meetings of Healthnet. Finally, they arenow acting as Community Learning Champions topromote educational pathways in the community. Formore information contact Anne Staines [email protected]
Learner Voice“I can now attend volunteer and communitymeetings and am confident enough to add itemsto the agenda and talk about them”
Project 2Community Development (Health) Project in Leicester (WEA East Midlands Region)
Project 3Women’s Mental Health Matters, South Shields inpartnership with WHiST and Age Concern SouthTyneside (WEA North East Region)
Introduction to
ICT Projects
There has been a rapid growth in social and community mediausing information and communications technology. Alongside thisthere is a growing interest in local democracy and a willingnessamong people to get involved in campaigning and politics throughdigital means, given the relevant skills, knowledge and confidence.
The projects in this section demonstrate how we are addressing this issue byproviding adults at risk of digital exclusion with innovative learning activities thatincrease knowledge, enhance computer skills and raise awareness of theopportunities to communicate digitally in order to influence local decision makingprocesses. From research and investigation activities through to direct contact oflocal and national government representatives, all projects have vividlydemonstrated how people can influence the future in practical and stimulatingways.
By having a say in how their local neighbourhoods are run, learners were able toactively demonstrate their newly acquired skills. The future challenge is to supportthe continuation of the activities and incorporate them into mainstream Associationwide provision, within our non-formal educational programmes.
“I now understand the purpose of campaigning and have found easierways of contacting my local MP with local issues.”
“I am on Facebook now and a member of several groups,communicating with people all over the world.”
“I feel much more part of my community now”
Getting Involved/11
How to Campaign Project in Rotherham andSheffield (WEA Yorkshire and Humberside Region)
WEA tutors within Yorkshire and Humberside regioncreated a two-hour resource pack based on using theInternet as a tool for campaigning. After trainingsessions on how to use the materials, tutors thenwent on to integrate the packs into their own courses.
This teaching and learning resource covered how tocontact an MP, how to construct a campaign letterand how to influence local decision making as well ashow to report on conditions in the neighbourhood viathe Fix My Street web site. Crucially this has beendesigned to be embedded within any learningprogramme that has access to the Internet.
Websites accessed includedwww.theyworkforyou.com, where people can find outabout their MP, and www.whatdotheyknow.com toexplore Freedom of Information.
The activity has increased awareness of campaigningand the evidence is that it has led to empowerment.Learners’ knowledge and confidence were increasedwhen they realised how simple it was to contact MPsand lobby on issues using on-line resources and websites. Many learners reported problems in theirneighbourhood such as pot holes, graffiti and fly
tipping to local authorities, councillors and MPs duringthe session and were amazed at how easy this was todo.
A number of learners now plan to use the informationgained to lobby their local authority over a plannedhousing development. For more information contactGill Lawrence [email protected]
Learner Voice“I now know how easy it is to contact my MPand I will do so in the future as I know I won’tbe ignored.”
Project 1How to Campaign Project in Rotherham andSheffield (WEA Yorkshire and HumbersideRegion)
In Leicester the community media organisationCitizen’s Eye has grown rapidly since its launch,providing an accessible platform for community newsand a media hub for eight community news agenciesincluding Senior Eye (older people), Down Not Out(homeless), HATnews (refugees and asylum seekers)and Dzine (disability).
WEA invited Citizen’s Eye to facilitate a CommunityVoices conference, which provided WEA tutors with apractical overview of community media and socialnetworking.
Tutors were inspired by the conference and workedtogether to create imaginative teaching and learningmaterials to pilot with learners on their ICT courses andwith the local WEA branch. The materials produced bythe tutors are available to view at a new CommunityVoices websitehttp://groups.google.co.uk/group/communityvoicesweathis enables staff, tutors and students to easily accessa broad range of social media teaching and learningmaterials and to start (or join) any discussions aboutsocial media.
We have found that the learning programmes gave avoice to people who would not otherwise have hadone. This was achieved by equipping them with theskills and the confidence to report on local issues andto contribute articles/photos/interviews to Leicester’sCitizen’s Eye community news media hub and othersocial media and network sites.
ICT students gained the skills required to set-up theirown social networks using Facebook, Twitter and Flickrand are more confident about getting involved withCitizen’s Eye. For further information contact MartinHyams [email protected]
Learner Voice“It has empowered me to take action when Ineed to. I think it is important for people tounderstand how this can be done and to feelconfident to do the same.”
The ownership of Ketley Community Centre hasrecently been transferred from Telford & WrekinCouncil to Ketley Parish Council.
A community group was keen to gather information onhow the centre was perceived, its relevance to thecommunity and how its facilities should developfollowing change of ownership. They then intended topresent the findings of their investigation to keydecision makers.
WEA was asked to help with this endeavour and alearning programme was developed and deliveredcovering a wide variety of teaching methods, skills andlearning activities.
Included were community research skills, includingresearching the history of the building and how tointerview local people, ICT skills, using digital and Flipvideo cameras and creating a PowerPoint presentationof their findings.
Learners will be making a presentation of these findingsto the Parish and Town Council. The results from theproject will be included on the Ketley Parish Councilweb site. Also, learners hope to set up a blog andwebsite to provide a platform for Ketley people to havetheir say and explore issues relating to the communitycentre.
They want to highlight the importance of the Centre,the need for repair funds and the struggle the localparish council had in acquiring the building, saving itfrom demolition. The Parish Council also intends to usefindings to support a bid to enable the building to berepaired and improved to enhance its use as acommunity centre. For further information contactSheila Bregeon [email protected]
Learner Voice“I have a better understanding of the history ofKetley, communication with decision makers atthe council and wider community members”
Project 2Community Voices Project in Leicester (WEA East Midlands Region)
Project 3Who Decides? Project based in Ketley, Telford (WEA West Midlands Region)
Other Projects
14/Getting Involved
Active CitizenshipLearning Disability Parliament, Bradford. For
people with learning difficulties to effectively communicate
their wishes and concerns about services to the local
Primary Care Trust and other relevant agencies.
Partnership: Bradford Care Trust. Contact
Democracy Matters, Yorkshire. Five day
schools: E-Democracy, Why Vote?, Women-Be Heard,
Migration Matters, Democracy and Politics. Partnerships:
Vox and Vawd (Both Wakefield Community
Organisations), Yemeni Education Project in Sheffield,
Friends of the Earth (Scunthorpe), Grange Interlink
Community Centre. Contact: [email protected]
Interpreting in Child Protection, London. For
interpreters in minority ethnic communities, to develop
skills in initial assessment interviews, case conferences,
and dealings with police and the courts. Partnerships:
Islington Family Group Conference, Islington and Hackney
Safeguarding Children Boards, NSPCC, Metropolitan
Police Child Abuse Team, Solace Women’s Aid and
Children and Families Across Borders. Contact
[email protected] and [email protected]
Active Citizenship with UnionRepresentatives, West Midlands. Short learning
episodes designed for trade union representatives and
activists to become involved in community lobbying of
local decision makers. Partnerships: TUC affiliated unions.
Contact [email protected]
Human Rights Conference, Gateshead. Series
of activities highlighting the lack of basic human rights of
individuals in the local area leading to establishment of
task groups to identify how to further develop links with
Human Rights groups. Partnerships: Show Racism the
Red Card, Amnesty, Equality and Human Rights
Commission, Government Office for the North East.
Contact: [email protected]
Health, Fitness and Personal DevelopmentCommunity Health Matters, North West. For
health deprived adults with low take-up of preventative
health services, an opportunity to discuss with health
professionals and establish a local ‘health agenda’ around
future training. Partnerships: Barnados Children’s Centre,
Cumbria Primary Care Trust, Blackburn & Darwen Healthy
Living Partnership, Lancashire Primary Care Trust,
Endurance. Contact: [email protected]
ICTSocial Media for Small Groups, Nottingham.Delivery of an 8 week learning programme to provide
people with the skills to communicate important issues via
GoogleMail, WordPress, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and
Flickr. Contact [email protected]
Cross-curricular ProjectsCommunity Newsletter, South Shields. For
parent and other volunteers at a special needs school to
create a community newsletter to promote issues for
children with disabilities and their families. Partnerships:
Bamburgh School, Horsley Hill ward, Newcastle
Employability Project, South Tyneside Council for
Voluntary Service. Contact [email protected] and
Making IT Work for Me, Chesterfield andWarsop. For digitally excluded adults living in
disadvantaged communities, an introduction to locating
and using local parish, borough and county council
websites as well as Central Government department
websites. Partnerships: Warsop InfoTech, Take Part
Pathfinder. Contact [email protected] and
Steer the Future, Plymouth. For parents and
carers from disadvantaged backgrounds, on meeting
skills, public speaking, teambuilding, researching, bid
writing and mentoring. Partnership: Keyham Green Places
Community Centre. Contact [email protected] and
Community Resource (Advocacy) DVD,Barnsley. For recovering substance misusers and their
families, a DVD to express experiences, concerns and
aspirations for improving service provision and repairing
damaged relationships, launched in front of an audience
of invited policy makers from local agencies. Partnerships:
Phoenix Futures, NHS Substance Misuse Team, Barnsley
DAAT, Barnsley Beacon Carers Group. Contact
Getting Involved/15
Afterword
Community empowerment is high on the current policy agenda. TheDepartment for Communities and Local Government has led the driveto “enable more people to play an active role in the decisions thataffect their communities” and there is cross-party support to passpower into the hands of local communities so as to generate vibrantlocal democracy, and give real control over local decisions andservices to a wider pool of active citizens.
The WEA’s Learning for Community Involvement (LfCI) project provides a practicalmechanism to help achieve this aim. The case studies highlighted within thisreview have provided evidence of how adult education programmes can enablepeople to exercise some power, control, and influence over local decisionsaffecting their day to day lives.
The majority of project activities have been developed and delivered throughpartnership working with a range of national associations, local charitable orvoluntary and community organisations and local authorities and other statutorybodies.
The WEA is keen to further develop the practice of integrating active citizenshipand empowerment themes within its provision to help people to effect change intheir own communities. Two years of activity remain for the LfCI project, and weinvite public, private and third sector organisations interested in becominginvolved in this area of adult education to contact us. We look forward to hearingfrom you.
For further information please contact Howard Croft, LfCI Project Coordinator,WEA West Midlands on 0121 237 8133 or [email protected]
Learning for Community Involvement (LfCI) WEA West Midlands Regional Office 4th floor Lancaster House67 Newhall Street Birmingham B3 1NQTel 0121 237 8120 Fax 0121 237 8121 Email [email protected] Website www.westmidlands.wea.org.uk
Registered charity number: 1112775. Company limited by guarantee in England and Wales no: 2806910. Registered office: 3rd floor, 70 Clifton Street, London, EC2A 4HB
