POA Learning Reps have been doing a lot of work over recent years to extend learning out of the prison Learning Centres and into the community. In late 2013 HMP Dartmoors POA Learning Centre Manager Andy Harding signed a Learning/Partnership Agreement with West Devon Libraries Area Manager Jill Currie. The aim of the agreement was the provision of Information Advice Guidance (IAG) to library users within West Devon.

Well over a year later and things are going very well, with the agreement providing a springboard for union lead learning support across the area.

POA Learning Support Worker Ivan Judd has been working at Tavistock Library every Tuesday afternoon during 2014 - providing IAG to a great many library clientele. Ivan advises on the educational provision available from POA Learning and focuses on the individual needs of the learner.

Ivan said:

I obtain a great deal of satisfaction in not only meeting the people who turn to POA Learning for educational and careers advice, but also in observing how individual learners advance on their chosen educational course with the aim of better employment opportunities both now and into the future."

Many library users and library staff have commenced free distance learning courses via the POA Learning route. The courses offered are many and varied:

• Customer Services
• IT Training ( from a basic to an advanced level)
• Equality & Diversity
• Mental Health Awareness
• French
• Spanish
• German
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Team Leading
• Employability Skills

Andy Harding is pleased with the way things have developed since the agreement was signed and said:

Since working closely with Tavistock Library we have also had interest from other libraries in the area at Ivy Bridge and Oakhampton as well as moving beyond West Devon to Cullompton Library. This is great news for Devon Library Services and POA Learning and positively demonstrates the value of partnership working within the community."

Tavistock Library Senior Supervisor Helen Cooper said:

Having a POA Learning presence, in the form of Ivan Judd, at the library each week has been an absolute boon for our library users. Ivan provides what is an essential community service from the library premises in relation to community based educational provision. It is true partnership working in action."

South West unionlearn’s Union Support Officer, Rob Garrett added:

The work that the POA has been doing in communities across Devon shows the real benefits of union lead learning beyond the workplace - and demonstrates the importance of Learning Reps and Organisers to local communities."

POA Learning hope to extend provision to other library sites within the Devon catchment area.