|
Archive Project - WP
in the Community
West Howe Investing in People - Working with Communities and Volunteers
The Background and Context:
West Howe Investing in People has been at the forefront of the community since 2001. Specialising in providing a safe and friendly learning experience for the residents and volunteers of the West Howe Estate in Bournemouth.
West Howe Investing in People has been providing quality community involvement since 2001. The mission to enable residents and volunteers to realise their self worth and to progress at their own pace, believing the best way to achieve this goal is to work with individuals to raise aspiration and confidence, to ensure that they feel a part of the project and have ownership of their community every step of the way.
The target groups are parents and carers aged 19-30.
Aims:
- Aimhigher (LIFE) is ensuring that learning is available to all community members in a safe and appropriate environment
- Giving people who have not had the opportunity to gain skills and qualifications
- To help people gain access to learning
- To raise aspirations and give opportunities in the widest and most creative ways possible
- To help people reach their full potential and move on into Further education
back to top
Types of Activities:
Taster Sessions, Workshops, Volunteer Accreditation, Basic Skills, First Step Confidence Building, Social Learning, Family Learning, Work Based Learning, Online Learning.
One to one I.T. computer course at the West Howe Network
Currently have 15 registered learners, 11 starting OCN accreditation and 4 beginning basic skills.
Pottery and IT for Family learning weekend
45 attendees of which 5 have gone on to do other courses.
Volunteer training and OCN accreditation. 16 volunteers have now begun putting their portfolio together. 6 volunteers have gained 2 credits at level 2 OCN and two volunteers are currently working on their third credit at level 2.
Boredom Busters training for child care and play scheme work.
5 Parents took training during summer of 03 and we have 9 parents attending 2 days of awareness raising during June 04 half term.
A committee training event was held in April 04 with the Moore Avenue project committee.
13 target group adults attended and received certificates to add to their portfolios.
Also a football tournament was held, part of the Moore Avenue park opening day.
Community Planning day was held in October 03
45 residents that attended 16 were from the target group and received certificates to add to their portfolio.
Sports awareness events took place during June 04
23 people currently booked onto these taster sessions. These will not be certificated but used to talk to people about getting involved with other learning and raising awareness of Aimhigher.
Basic skills with a Muslim womens group has started on Fridays
Working with approximately 24 parents. A series of basic skills workshops are being set up and portfolio building will be developed with this group. 3 of these ladies currently attend college.
Book Club on Wednesday
This group has recently been developed and we are working on getting more of our target group involved. Currently only 2 of the attendees are of the target group. This is a non-accredited group.
Adult learning at Sure Start
199 individual parents taking up to 64 places on a number of courses.
Of these 8 have passed National literacy level 1 and 2 level 2. 2 have passed Pitmans elementary level. 2 have City & Guilds Numeracy entry level 3 Numeracy entry level 3. 13 have passed CLAIT and 9 OCE text processing level 2. 9 have passed ECDL.
back to top
Outcomes:
- Many of these parents are now part of the Sure Start management board and are instrumental in decision making on the estate.
- These sessions have led to the volunteers becoming more actively involved with their local area, and the resident volunteers now own and have overseen the re-development of the Moore Avenue park Residents have also been part of the planning for the West Howe Clinic.
- All planning activities are part of volunteer learning plans and skills and experiences are evidenced in a variety of ways to help volunteers and residents recognise the way they are learning.
- We have worked with parents from Sure Start Bournemouth, and many of these parents are now part of the Sure Start management board and are instrumental in decision making on the estate
- West Howe Investing in People now has 16 committee members who have all had full training. Parents and Carers on West Howe are now working with other groups to share their experience of learning.
- Through the forum work we have done with Voluntary Sector Training Conference, Boscombe Neighbourhood Management and West Howe Investing in People we have developed a skills evidence form for portfolio building that we are piloting in West Howe and has proved to be an easy format for people to evidence skills that they have gained through community work.
- It is hoped that by working with education providers, that the portfolio’s will be recognised and credited by providers for progression routes into formal education.
- To date on West Howe, we have had over 100 parents taking part in learning (both non-accredited and accredited) and over 75 people outside of the parents and carers aged 19 – 30 catchment group who have taken up learning within community and voluntary projects.
Subsequent or ongoing work:
We continue to work within West Howe but are now working with other groups to share the good practice of the work we do. We are looking to make portfolio building more uniform across the voluntary sector and the new skills evidence form should help to do that. We are working with education providers to look at making learning more accessible to a wider group of people and ensuring that learning is embedded in all our projects.
back to top
|