Agreement brings learning home

Sunderland Housing Group (SHG) have recognised their continued commitment to promoting learning and development across their business and added another accreditation to their expanding portfolio by signing a learning agreement.

The event earlier this week marked a unique development which they have been working towards with the Union Learning Representatives to culminate in signing a learning agreement which links both SHG and the trade unions in continued life long learning.

The agreement aims to make learning and development opportunities accessible to all employees and aims to reach out to those people who are traditionally disengaged with learning and training and have a more developmental, personalised focus. It will complement the extensive list of existing training courses and provisions already provided by the SHG Learning and Development team.

SHG and the Union learning representatives will maximize the use of Government and union learning initiatives such as Skills for Life* * and will work with organisations such as Unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation, College providers and Sector Skills Councils * to ensure that the learning agreement is a success.

Speaking about the agreement Peter Walls, SHG Chief Executive said: 'We want to offer all our staff the opportunity to learn new skills which will help them not only at work but also in their personal lives. Providing access to knowledge, learning and development is a key strand of our Corporate Responsibility commitment to build a good place to work for our employees.

'We can begin to build on this agreement in terms of structuring an effective learning and training programme that will open doors for employees to progress individually and acquire qualifications.'

Dave Storrie , Regional Development Worker for unionlearn* said: 'It is a great testament to workplace learning partnerships to see trade unions and employers signing a learning agreement. Unionlearn with funding from the Learning for All Fund are very proud to have been involved in helping to pull this learning agreement together. SHG joins the many employers who have realised that better skilled workers gain confidence in themselves and their work."

Mike Routledge , Regional Officer for Unite the Union, Amicus Section, signed the agreement on behalf of the trade unions. He was impressed with the partnership working, 'It's great that trade unions and Sunderland Housing Group are working together for the better of staff and the company, long may it continue.'

This signing of the learning agreement also marked the start of National Adult Learners' Week* for SHG and the beginning of a programme of training events that have been organised in and around SHG offices. Adult Learners' Week - which runs from 19-25^th May 2007 and is organised by NIACE* ( National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) - is a time when thousands of people consider a return to learning and begin a life-transformational journey.

SHG along with the Union learning Representatives have organised taster sessions in a range of disciplines, from literacy and numeracy , beauty and languages to art and even balloon twisting. They are also holding an open day at their Emperor House headquarters on Thursday, 24 May for various colleges and universities to come in and talk to staff about courses on offer.

Adult Learners' Week is also the time when adults from across the country are awarded for their remarkable achievements through learning. Inspirational stories of people realising long-held ambitions and transforming their lives will demonstrate the effectiveness of learning as an adult. SHG will be closing their week of events with a recognition presentation on Friday 25^th May. Chris Mullin MP for Sunderland South will be in attendance to present certificates to SHG staff who have already completed courses and gained extra qualifications.

Lisette Nicholson, Head of People Development for SHG said: 'Learning opens all sorts of new doors in people's lives. The Week celebrates the success of the tens of thousands of adult learners across the country who have seized that opportunity to improve their lives, transform their careers and enjoy the benefits learning brings.

'There are more learning opportunities today than ever, including free provision for adults to get their first numeracy or literacy qualification and a free entitlement to get a first full Level 2 qualification, equivalent to 5 good GCSEs.

'With our week long programme of taster sessions and events we want everyone, whatever their age or background, to realise they have the opportunity to succeed through learning.'

For more information on Adult Learners' Week, visit www.alw.org.uk or call learndirect* advice free on 0800 100 900, for further detail on the events taking place at SHG during this week call 0191 525 5000.

Press release (800 words) issued 24 May 2007

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