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 Add a comment to General Chat discussion. Add a comment to Trade Union learning centre discussion. See all discussion topics.  Learning in Union, 11 December 2008, Plymouth Illuminating Learning: a celebration for unions across the North West  |
embargo: for immediate release Stephen Hughes MEP learns his way around the region Stephen Hughes, Labour MEP for the north east of England has today (Friday) visited five union-led workplace learning projects across Durham and Stockton to see the difference they are making to the people and organisations involved with them. The agenda for the day began with a visit to Durham County Council and Durham City Council in the morning and then moved southwards on to Tetley GB, Tristar Homes and Holme House Prison in the afternoon. All of the projects are led by trade unions in partnership with employers, and supported by unionlearn*, the TUC's learning and skills organisation and share the common goal of getting as many adults back into learning as possible - whether it be improving existing skills like literacy or numeracy, or learning new ones like Spanish, ICT* or reflexology, to name but a few. Last year, union-led projects in the region were responsible for 25,000 adults participating in learning, 5,000 of whom were able to achieve a skills for life qualification. Stephen was accompanied by Barney McGill, unionlearn's regional manager, on his 'learning journey'. He also met the Union Learning Representatives (ULRs) responsible for running the projects, and senior management representatives at most sites. Mr Hughes also presented certificates to learners and saw first-hand some of the personal success stories as well as touring the various sites and/or learning centres. Stephen Hughes MEP said: 'All of these projects are excellent examples of the value of partnership at work and the vital, positive role trades unions can play. The Union Learning Representatives are dedicated people helping tens of thousands of north easterners back onto the path of learning, adding value to their lives and to the places they work. "Work-based learning makes good business sense. It pays dividends in higher skilled/ trained staff and lower staff turn-over. By working together, the unions and employers have found a positive way to encourage learning and skilling while improving motivation and productivity. 'As a dedicated supporter of lifelong learning, I congratulate the learners, the unions and the employers on their achievements.' Barney McGill, unionlearn regional manager said: 'Union learning makes a vast difference to those who engage with it. The five projects we've visited today are representative of all the good work that goes on across the region, with projects running in just about every employment sector producing the same level of results - getting 25,000 adults participating in learning is proof positive that these collaborative projects are working and working very well. Being able to show our representative in Europe this kind of innovation and success is tremendous.' NOTES TO EDITORS: All unionlearn press releases can be found at www.unionlearn.org.uk Media enquiries: Press release (500 words) issued 26 Sep 2008  Sharon Hodgson MP visits QE Hospital for a healthy dose of learning Cumbria 'nets' itself a full agenda U-Net Newsletter - Issue 3 |
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unionlearn Telephone 020 7079 6920 |
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