Broadening Participation in Lifelong Learning

UNISON’s informal adult learning programme has broadened membership participation in lifelong learning, increased engagement in workplace training, public policy and citizenship and helped facilitate routes into the union’s own structures.

Informal learning activity has targeted lower paid members, those in low-skilled jobs and without qualifications, and the union has ensured that they then have the opportunity to rapidly progress to formal learning.

In the North West, the Living Books project has trained UNISON members to share their experiences of disadvantage with members of their local communities through events in libraries, museums and conferences. In the South West, the union has run financial literacy and debt awareness courses for members in partnership with local not-for-profit company Devon Pounds.

In the South East, the union has piloted its “Credit Crunch Cookery course”, which embeds numeracy issues (converting between imperial and metric measures, calculating cost per head and managing portion control) while teaching members how to cook healthy meals on a budget. And in the North East, the Bridges to Learning project uses informal adult learning to engage hard to reach learners in local government and health, delivering taster sessions in each of the Bridges to Learning workplaces six times per year to generate interest in progression routes through higher level skills.

Bridges to Learning project Director said “Bridges to Learning recognises the profound importance of informal adult learning to people’s lives and wellbeing: Informal learning can be an important stepping stone to further learning, qualifications and more rewarding work”.