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Minister for Further Education drives adult learning at First Bus on eve of World Book Day

Today, Wednesday 4 March, the Minister for Further Education Siôn Simon visits a learning centre at First bus garage in Westbourne Park, London. He is joined by Quick Reads* author, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Loose Women star Sherrie Hewson to meet learners who have been using Quick Reads books in the centre.

The learners, and union learning reps, who are members of Unite the union, will be sharing the stories of their own reading journeys with the Minister and author. Sherrie Hewson will read from her debut Quick Reads novel The Tannery, published on World Book Day and talk to the learners about her life in entertainment and about writing her first book.

The authors and learners will be joined by London First Bus MD, Adrian Jones and Liz Smith Director of unionlearn (the TUC's learning and skills organization).

From left: unionlearn Director, Liz Smith; Adrian Jones, MD First Bus London; Sion Simon MP, Further Education Minister; Sherrie Hewson, actor and Quick Reads author; Kathy Gale, Project Director, Quick Reads.

Quick Reads are the perfect books for people who have lost the reading habit or who struggle to read long and complicated books. For many adults, a Quick Read has been the first book they have ever read and this experience has transformed their lives. A recent survey of adult literacy tutors showed that nearly all of them (98%) believe Quick Reads have been useful in their learners' progress and bettered their personal confidence.

Sherrie Hewson signing her new book for a First Bus employee

Ten new Quick Reads titles will be published on World Book Day, Thursday 5 March. In addition to Sherrie Hewson, they include books by the number one best-selling crime writer Ian Rankin, Kate Mosse, Gervase Phinn, the Dragon's Den team and a brand new Doctor Who title.

Siôn Simon comments, 'Quick Reads are making a huge difference helping people to improve their reading skills, their confidence and their job prospects as well as helping their families. The project is an impressive partnership between the book trade, education, libraries, unions and employers, and puts adults on the path to accessing more formal learning. I urge people to pick up a book today, develop a love of reading and reap the benefits at home and at work.'

First takes learning and development for its workforce very seriously. Over the past five years, it has worked closely with Unite the Union to establish more than 50 Learning Centres around the UK, each of which deliver vocational and non vocational courses for First employees. To date, more than 60,000 learner visits have been recorded and more than 9,300 vocational qualifications have been awarded ( 1,300 NVQ's delivered so far this financial year) . Quick Reads are used as one of many learning resources used within the centres.

Unionlearn is a key partner of the Quick Reads scheme and last year distributed over 20,000 books to trade union members. Through its network of over 20,500 union learning reps, unionlearn, together with trade unions and working in partnership with employers, has promoted Quick Reads as a key part of Skills for Life* learning.

Unionlearn has also organised four events with Quick Reads for World Book Day at which authors are promoting their books, and inspiring trade union members with their stories.

Notes to Editors:

• Photographs of the event are available via Colman Getty

• Quick Reads were launched on World Book Day in March 2006, with the aim of reaching out to the millions of adults in the UK with reading difficulties and the one third of the British population that never picks up a book. They are specially written by bestselling authors and popular personalities for both reluctant readers and for avid readers wanting a short, fast-paced read

• www.quickreads.org.uk
  
  
• Photograph: ©Jess Hurd/reportdigital.co.uk

Ten new Quick Reads titles are published on World Book Day, 5th March 2009:

o A Cool Head by Ian Rankin (Orion)

o Dragons' Den: Your Road to Success by The Dragons (HarperCollins)

o The Cave by Kate Mosse (Orion)

o The Tannery by Sherrie Hewson (Macmillan)

o Black-Eyed Devils by Catrin Collier (Accent Press)

o All These Lonely People by Gervase Phinn (Penguin)

o Reaching for the Stars: How you can make your dreams come true by Lola Jaye (HarperCollins)

o The Dare by John Boyne (Transworld)

o Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games by Jacqueline Rayner (BBC Books)

o 101 Ways to get your Child to Read by Patience Thomson, with an introduction by Michael Morpurgo and celebrity tips (Barrington Stoke)

• From the age of four, Sherrie Hewson has worked in the entertainment industry. She went to RADA at 18 and has had an extremely successful career in films, TV, Theatre and radio, appearing in favourites such as Coronation Streetand Emmerdale. Sherrie has been a presenter on ITV's Loose Women for the last seven years and was the winner of the TV series Murder Most Famous, hosted by famous crime writer, Minette Walters. In the show, celebrities competed to be chosen to write a Quick Reads novel and this book is the result. The Tannery is Sherrie Hewson's first book.

www.unionlearn.org.uk

Unionlearn together with unions has recruited over 20,000 union learning reps who last year helped over 200,000 people to access courses

• The Quick Reads campaign has widespread private and public-sector support from across the publishing and bookselling industries. DIUS* (the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills), Arts Council England, the BBC RaW campaign, NIACE* (the National Institute for Continuing Adult Education), TUC's unionlearn, the National Literacy Trust, the National Reading Campaign, The Vital Link, the Reading Agency, National Book Tokens, Learning Connections Scotland, Learn Direct Scotland, LSDA (Learning and Skills Development Agency Northern Ireland), DELNI (Department for Education and Learning Northern Ireland), NALA (National Adult Literacy Agency), Welsh Books Council and Basic Skills* Agency are all Quick Reads partners

• About First

FirstGroup plc is the world's leading transport company with annualised revenues of some £6 billion. It employs approximately 137,000 staff throughout the UK and North America and transports some 2.5 billion passengers a year. The Group is Britain's largest bus operator running more than one in five of all local bus services. A fleet of nearly 9,000 buses carries approximately three million passengers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities. For more information see: www.firstgroup.com

For further information please contact Lucy Chavasse at

Colman Getty, 28 Windmill Street, London W1T 2JJ

Tel: 020 7631 2666 Mobile: 07876 528902 Email: lucy@colmangetty.co.uk

Press release (1,100 words) issued 4 Mar 2009

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