More than 300 workers took part in Celebration of Learning events organised by the unionlearn Midlands team, Lisa Stones, Mick Brightman, Alan Cook and Paul Humphreys during the month of October 2014.

They used the month-long learning initiative to help union learning representatives (ULRs) encourage interest in informal learning through a series of short lunchtime workshops. These were held in workplaces throughout the region and focused on topics ranging from stressbusting, to supporting mid-life development, understanding your payslip and the introductory IT online learning package Learn My Way.

The team received more than 30 requests to run workshops in workplaces as diverse as supermarkets, hospitals, police headquarters, local councils and central government departments. ULRs from unions including shop workers' union USDAW, public services union Unison, public and commercial services PCS union and the probation officers' union NAPO took part in the events.

Stressbusting workshops ran with the support of Unison ULRs at local authorities including Ashfield, Rushcliffe, North West Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Walsall; at Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Police headquarters; and at West Midlands Fire Service in Birmingham. At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Corby, unionlearn delivered two back-to-back stressbusting sessions for 66 people who had been given an hour's release time by the employer.

Arlene Simms, NAPO ULR, helped unionlearn to run a workshop at the National Probation Office in Saltley, Birmingham.

"The workshop was well constructed and had a lot of useful information around stress – its causes, symptoms and coping strategies. I would recommend it to other branches."

The team also ran Supporting Mid-life Development workshops in several NHS and central government workplaces. Workers are retiring later in life, pensions are uncertain and traditional forms of life-long employment are disappearing, replaced, in many cases, by short-term, insecure and constantly changing roles. Many workers will therefore work in a number of different areas throughout their working lives. But workers in mid-life who lose their jobs, particularly those over the age of 50, often find it difficult to find new work.

The workshops aimed to heighten awareness of the challenges faced by workers in mid-life, help ULRs to support older colleagues in their workplaces, and introduce mid-life development reviews to help older workers identify their transferrable skills.

They also introduced ULRs and their colleagues to a new interactive card game produced by unionlearn, Value My Skills. The cards help workers interested in a new job, course, promotion or voluntary work to identify the abilities they have developed that are useful across a range of different jobs and industries.

The Supporting Mid-life Development workshop at the Birmingham Tribunal Service attracted 26 people.

Lindsey Naughton, ULR and acting Branch Secretary of the PCS union West Midlands and Warwickshire (Ministry of Justice) branch, said:

"I can't thank and praise Lisa enough, she delivered a fantastic event. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed it. Members of staff were still talking about it the following day. One of the delivery managers also spoke to a PCS colleague to say how good it was."

Other workshops, including Understanding Your Payslip (to help develop maths skills) and introductory IT ran at Tesco, Morrisons and Homebase stores with the support of USDAW ULRs, and at Oswestry Orthopaedic and Chesterfield hospitals with the support of Unison and RCN. The workshop held in the canteen at Morrisons in Newcastle Under Lyme attracted 42 people.

Such has been the demand that the team will be running additional workshops throughout the rest of the year and into 2015. Ceramics union Unity ULRs will be supporting six stressbusting workshops at pottery manufacturers' Steelite and beginners IT workshops for the unemployed will run at Middleport Pottery throughout November and December.

If any ULR is interested in having a workshop run in their workplace, please do contact Surjit at the Birmingham office – [email protected] or 0121 262 6384.