Aim
The project aimed to trial methods of reaching learners in a wide range of community settings.
Main Outcomes
The department is now much more specific about its relationship with VCO and local providers - activity must relate to outcomes and targets which are solely influenced by local and national agendas. Previous grant arrangements need to be transformed into contractual arrangements for mutual benefit. Mutual agendas need to be sought across a breadth of policy areas - eg the impact of learning on health.
Impact 1CLIP projects have established tried and tested means of working with a wide range of voluntary and community sector organisations. The position of the Adult Education service to work with voluntary and community sectors has been re-inforced and made more strategically explicit – as reflected in the Business plan for 2005-6. The service is developing further its support, brokerage and delivery role in identifying and meeting shared strategic objectives and outcomes – including national skills for life targets. A key development in this is the MAIDeN multi agency database facility has received widespread dissemination nationally and now has funding to continue for the immediate future. It is an invaluable resource for a wide variety of public, voluntary and community bodies. As well of its role in lifelong learning, the service is of value to inform all types of economic regeneration activities (eg Theme D)
Impact 2 Increased voice and prominence for the strategic role of community based learning. The Gloucestershire Learning Partnership has increased the prominence of community and voluntary sector learning in its draft Strategic Plan for 2005-6. Specifically a forum will be established for the VCO partners to discuss the role of the voluntary and community sector in learning within the county. Links to other strategic agendas will be explored and the role of learning in eg health will be specifically targeted.
Impact 3 Several community links and projects developed under CliP have been mainstreamed and adopted as core activities. Examples include: LION OCN, widespread use of accessible enrolment form, support for PhD forum, roll out of parentline plus curriculum in many venues, including innovative telephone conference classes, acknowledging the importance of role of community based development workers, extensive use the multi-agency data to inform policy and practice (MAIDeN), Gloucestershire Neighbourhood Projects Network are coninuing the development of their training materials in new projects.
Impact 4 Much work in community based learning relies on the provision of good information advice and guidance to learners, potential learniers, volunteer support workers, staff in voluntary organisations, tutors etc 3 projects within CliP developed, or started to develop, this much needed resource: the Manual of Training Opportunities; working in a deprived area where this kind of information is much needed; and an electronic handbook. This type of data is much needed in order to show pathways to learning – then particiapants can be supported along the way. There are insufficient resources to maintain this type of information and to bring it to the attention of those who would benefit. Much of this information has to be very local.
