Happy 20th Birthday Learning Works!

A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL initiative to help long-term unemployed people has marked a significant milestone.

The 20th Learning Works course in Glasgow has just been completed with an extra special get together.

The award-winning “Learning Works” initiative is a joint project between Thenue Housing and Glasgow Kelvin College and has been running since early 2012.

Remarkably, 227 people have been through the free course – with 85 per cent finding it a vital pathway into work or further learning.

The course is aimed at unemployed people in the area of Glasgow served by the regeneration agency Clyde Gateway which is an essential funder and without whom the course could not have reached this milestone.

To mark the completion of the 20th course the latest crop of eight students took part in the “Celebration of Learning” event held at the Glasgow Women’s Library in Bridgeton.

Our Chief Executive Charles Turner who attended the occasion praised the commitment to learning of those taking part and the “hugely successful” partnership between Thenue and Glasgow Kelvin College.

He added that Clyde Gateway deserved special thanks for its ongoing commitment to the communities it was created to help in addition to Big Lottery Fund Scotland which has also shown unwavering financial commitment to Learning Works.

Alan Inglis, Vice Principal at Glasgow Kelvin College, congratulated the learners involved in Learning Works saying,
“This first step for you has been made possible only through the strong partnership forged between Thenue and Glasgow Kelvin. It allows the College to target our learning resources directly to where they’re needed – at grassroots community level. Working with the support of Clyde Gateway and Big Lottery Fund, we hope our partnership continues well into the future.”

Lawrence McCabe, Community Regeneration Manager at Thenue said: “Learning Works is a shining example of the kind of work housing providers across Scotland are doing to help their communities at grass roots level.

“Helping people back into the workplace so they can earn a wage and improve their lives is undoubtedly one of the most admirable accomplishments of the housing association movement.”

One of the earliest learners told the celebration event how she obtained a job at biscuit producers McVities in the east end and had successfully progressed within the organisation.

Tracy Lennon, Employability Development Officer at Thenue has been instrumental in organising Learning Works from the very start.

Tracy said: “We could never have imagined how successful Learning Works would become. It has been refined and adapted since we started as we make sure we deliver skills that people really need in the workplace.

“Our funders have made all this possible and Glasgow Kelvin College have been the perfect partners in the delivery of Learning Works.”