The Black Box project, run by South East Museum, Library and Archive Council (SEMLAC), has established links with prison inmates, ex-offenders and vulnerable groups through a creative scheme involving a number of museums and galleries in West Sussex and Brighton and Hove. The project offered informal and creative learning opportunities through workshops, building in personal development work and addressing some of the skills needed for resettlement, including basic skills. It also aimed to give a voice to those seldom heard, to enable partner museums to establish productive, sustainable links with a non-traditional user group and to demonstrate that museums have a role to play in the lives of everyone. The Black Box project involved:

Workshops
These included storytelling, poetry and creative writing. They were held in museums and galleries and on site at Ford Prison. Each participant was encouraged to produce a 'personal museum' in the form of a large book. These books are based on the participants' experiences with a variety of museum and gallery collections and practices.

Specific skills addressed during the project included researching a topic, using artefact and photographic collections, literacy skills, ICT, interpretation, conservation techniques, and organisational skills. Personal skills included motivation, trust, self-worth, the ability to interact effectively with other people, and successfully to articulate thoughts and feelings.

For example, in one workshop participants were given a sheet of paper on which they were asked to draw six boxes (rooms). They were then given ten minutes to put a name of somebody important to them (negative or positive) in each room. Next they drew or wrote the name of one object in each room that was somehow linked to the person they put there, and finally discussed as a group the people and objects in the rooms and why they were put there.

Exhibitions
The finished books were displayed at Brighton and Hove and Horsham District Museums. An online gallery of the works is hosted on the SEMLAC website.

Training
A skills-sharing approach was taken with the participating museum and gallery staff and other project partners. A seminar was held with the aim of encouraging other museums and galleries to develop work with these client groups.

Signposting kit
A signposting document with key contacts, information and resources has been produced to support museums and galleries planning work with offenders, ex-offenders and vulnerable groups. The hardcopy folder is available and you can find a digital version on the SEMLAC website.

Evaluation
The project was evaluated using telephone interviews with key workers and partner organisations, and focus groups with participants.

Some of the key workers felt that it would have been beneficial to have had more time at the beginning of the project to establish stronger partnerships between organisations who did not know each other at first, and also to consult with the participants to establish what they wanted and to give them a sense of ownership, rather than having them feel that the project was being "done to" them. The majority of museum staff would also have liked more training in how to deal with the client group.

Feedback indicated that participants' skills had improved and their attitudes had changed: they were more willing to engage with others and the community. However, it was felt that since this was a relatively short project, it tended to introduce new skills rather than allow time to really develop them. The majority of key workers felt that the fact that most of the participants persisted and finished their personal museums was the major success of the project.

Another success was that a participant with low literacy skills completed his personal museum, and another finished his in rehabilitation. One key worker said that their organisation was "very surprised how much has come out of the creative writing side of it - how revealing and how it addresses many more issues than just creative writing - literacy, self-esteem, their past - such a great vehicle for all sorts of things, helps people take a much more objective view. They listened to each other, at the beginning there was some reticence about this but eventually they gelled more as a group." Some participants already had adequate literacy skills but were able to concentrate on their research skills.

Comments
Participants enjoyed the project:

"At first we thought that it was something we could imagine doing at school, a couple of us felt a bit silly. Now I'm looking forward to it going on display."

A key worker at HMP Ford commented,

"I got the impression that they (the inmates) felt valued in a different way as somebody was willing to take the objects to them."

Some of the participants found drawing and the creation of visual images difficult, and one worker felt that not enough time was allowed for participants to develop their "visual literacy". However, the involvement of artists, particularly the poets who led the workshops, was still felt to be a key ingredient of the project's success - along with the exhibitions and launch of participants' work, and the dedication and enthusiasm of the project coordinator and the partners. These included HMP Ford, The Foundation and local museums.

Funding
Black Box was funded by the DfES through a scheme called the Museums and Galleries Lifelong Learning Initiative (MGLI), which funds innovative projects with hard to reach audiences.
Funding for Black Box has come to an end, but new, linked projects are in development with Reading Young Offender Institution and Reading Library Service and Museum, and also HMP Ford and West Sussex Libraries and Museums.

Links:
For more information and to view the personal museums visit www.semlac.org.uk/blackbox

The MGLI project programme is coordinated by the Campaign for Learning through Museums and Galleries. For more information visit www.clmg.org.uk

Background: Church in Society
1st Byte centres are IT training centres serving communities across Kent. They are run by Church in Society (CiS), which is the social action arm of the Church of England across the Canterbury and Rochester dioceses. CiS works in partnership with other churches and community organisations, which means that, of 1st Byte's 11 centres, one is actually in East Sussex. CiS's purpose is to bring life in all its fullness to individuals and communities. It is working with churches to help them build an infrastructure which will break down the barriers that exclude people in their communities. 1st Byte is a part of this infrastructure, enabling communities in need to communicate better.

Reaching communities
Thanks to its track record in regeneration, in 2001 CiS obtained government funding through the UK online initiative which it has used to set up IT centres in churches. Their location in the hearts of communities means that people who might not have the confidence to step inside a large further education institution, or might not be able to travel far, find it easier to take the first step into learning. 1st Byte centres also operate an equal opportunities policy which they hope will make it easier for those who, for example, have English as an additional language to access learning; and in UK online centres as a whole, "silver surfers", ie older people, are the single largest group of users.

What goes on
There are about 250 regular users across the project, for whom the main aim of 1st Byte is to provide basic IT skills in an informal, welcoming environment. However, this means that staff are able to discern when a learner has literacy needs and the centres are therefore being loaned out to basic skills tutors to deliver literacy and numeracy programmes. 1st Byte is looking eventually to provide its own basic skills tuition, although staff believe that the use of IT is also helping people improve their other skills as well. People may not even realise that their skills are improving, but they keep attending because they are taken seriously and the environment is safe and friendly.

Aside from a handful of paid employees and some tutors from local colleges, 1st Byte is staffed by volunteers with some expertise in IT. In some cases these volunteers are themselves former learners at the centre, which is seen as a great step forward for both parties. Each centre has five or six PCs or laptops (used when the room or chapel needs to remain multi-functional), as well as scanners and printers. In addition to the structured learning sessions, some sessions are open, cyber-café style.

How people use the centres:

• Learning Microsoft Office applications to enhance employment opportunities
• Emailing their grandchildren in Australia
• Surfing the Internet for information
• Ordering shopping from the local supermarket
• Enjoying access to games software
• Small group training sessions for voluntary organisations
• As a social meeting point with a purpose
  

Links:
Contact: for 1st Byte call 01892 891 419
For information on Church in Society email office@churchinsociety.org or visit www.churchinsociety.org/Page.aspx

This London-based project offers trainees with special needs the opportunity to develop basic skills and other skills associated with running a café in their local community. It is run by the Carr-Gomm society, which offers care, housing and support to vulnerable people. It was initially an Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF) project, under which every trainee had the chance to take part in preparing hot and cold meals, serving customers, planning menus, and the cleaning and maintenance of the café, and also had access to basic skills, IT and other resources through the associated day centre.

What went on
Members of staff acted as key workers for the trainees, each of whom had an individual learning and support plan: there was no set syllabus or timescale, as all information had to be conveyed in the way most appropriate for each person. The learning was a mixture of practical and observational on-the-job training, specialist certificated courses (eg Basic Food Hygiene) and basic skills support, provided by café and Carr-Gomm staff and outside agencies. "Real life" literacy resources were used, such as recipe books, notices, menus and instruction leaflets, together with Basic Skills Agency publications and other resources (eg The Health Pack). Trainees had the opportunity to visit other, similar projects, and were also involved in catering for special events.

Results of the project
Working at the café not only gave trainees the chance to improve their basic skills, but also touched on other areas of their lives. Many trainees gained the Basic Food Hygiene qualification, and were committed to the café and attended regularly. Staff judged that trainees enjoyed the atmosphere and the support they received, and became more confident, more interested and more willing to take some risks with choices in their lives. They learnt to work alongside others, and to see the value in learning. The café had a healthy eating philosophy, and aimed gently to pass on this message to the trainees, knowing that some vulnerable adults are unwilling to change their eating habits. The trainees chose recipes from real cookery books so that they felt that they owned what was on offer, but the food was cooked and presented in as healthy a way as possible.

The project had a link with a local further education college which taught basic skills and catering and so was able to share skills and expertise, and the café also shared art resources with a day centre for people with learning difficulties. The café hosted various activities as part of a local festival, and regular exhibitions by local artists.

Café Orange continues to operate, and received a "Commended" in the Disability category of The Charity Awards 2002.

Links:
Contact: call 020 7732 8188 or email
isobel.mdudu@carr-gomm.org.uk
For Carr-Gomm visit www.carr-gomm.org.uk
This example was taken from
www.basic-skills.co.uk/site/page.php?cms=3&p=580

More on the Adult and Community Learning Fund

This project came about through a partnership between the Bedworth Indian Social Welfare Association (BISWA Centre) and the Museum and Art Gallery Nuneaton. The relationship originally came about when the museum approached the centre to see if members would like to take part in an exhibition about Asian fashions organised by Warwickshire Museums Services.

The BISWA centre then went back to the museum, wanting to work with it again, and together they decided to form community based exhibition about local allotment holders. As part of this project, women from the BISWA centre produced a recipe book, since they often use fresh produce in their cooking grown by many of the men from the centre.

The women were members of an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) class at the BISWA centre and used the recipe book project as a way of improving their literacy skills, by translating recipes into English. With the help of staff from the Museum and Art Gallery, and IT students at the BISWA centre, the women researched, wrote and even cooked some of the recipes during their class. They discussed recipes and cooking while they worked and talked about them in English to the museum worker. She noticed that their speaking skills improved as the project progressed, particularly as they got to know her and felt more confident. As time went on the group seemed to increase in commitment and gained more members because the theme was so popular; some of the women have continued with cookery classes since.

The museum benefited from being able to develop its links with an ethnic minority community, and staff felt that the exhibition gained from the community's input; they aim to pursue these links in future projects. The museum staff did face a language barrier, particularly when conducting oral history interviews with the men about their allotments; however, a worker from the BISWA centre was able to translate, and also the women, since they were attending an ESOL class, were more keen to improve their English.

The book that the women produced was put on display and on sale in the museum, and the group came to see the exhibition and gained a sense of ownership of it. They have since asked for more copies of the book to be produced for sale at other events, and to give to their relatives and friends.

Link:
For more information on the museum visit www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/leisure/museum,
call 024 7635 0720 or email museum@nuneaton-bedworthbc.gov.uk

This centre used an Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF) grant to provide a programme of learning for the community it served, with the goal of offering a "kick-start" for Chinese people who had previously found it difficult to take part in adult education because of social, economic, cultural or language difficulties. The programme aimed to raise learners' literacy and language skills in English to enable them to integrate and communicate better in society and with their children, who were more familiar with English and with British culture. It also aimed to give learners the opportunity to progress to more academic courses.

What went on
The courses were designed specifically for the learners: for example, the Chinese community in the area is mostly employed in catering and did not particularly require numeracy skills, so the programme centred on ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) and IT. Learners were first offered ten-week taster courses, such as "Computers for Beginners", which offered the possibility of progression to higher-level courses including email, computer-based artwork and project work. Supplementary material tailored to the learners' needs was developed and topical, everyday items were used in class, including those brought in by learners, such as photographs of their families. Drop-in workshop and tutorial sessions were also offered in order to deal with any difficulties which might arise for the learners. External assessments and evaluations aimed to ensure high expectations and standards.

Results of the programme
As a result of the programme a number of the ESOL learners found that they had gained in confidence and were better able to communicate outside the home, meaning that they were more independent; they were also able to communicate better with their children and benefited more from school parents' evenings. A number of learners achieved Open College Network (OCN) accreditation - some of whom had never before gained a qualification. Some went on to a longer term programme or to full time courses elsewhere. A sense of community spirit also developed.

Funding and partners
Funding was provided for two and a quarter years, of which the first term was spent on planning, publicity and initial assessment and registration of learners. When the funding finished there were arrangements for the local further education college to provide a longer-term project for the learners. This college was one of the partners in the ACLF project, as was a housing association.

Links:
This example was taken from
www.basic-skills.co.uk/site/page.php?cms=3&p=592

More on the Adult and Community Learning Fund

KPMG also supports a 'Ready for Work' course for homeless people, involving two days of pre-employment training, a two-week work placement and the support of coaches and volunteers from the company. This represents a partnership between the corporate, voluntary and statutory sectors. The training includes communication skills such as active listening, self-presentation and an interview situation. In 2002-2004, 145 people gained employment through the programme; 400 employees participate in KPMG's volunteering schemes each year.

Link:
For more information visit www.kpmg.co.uk/careers/eh/td/csr/index.cfm

Learning for Life is a programme which trains and supports volunteers to reach out to people in their communities who need help with basic skills, including single parents and unemployed people. It is run by the Catholic Church's Department for Parish and Family Catechesis, through a day centre at Maryvale House in Birmingham, and in partnership with Matthew Bolton College and Birmingham Core Skills Partnership (which provides the funding).

What goes on
Staff from Maryvale and Matthew Bolton College initially delivered, to around 30 volunteers, a mixture of City & Guilds basic skills awareness training and evangelism training, since the project was also designed to reach out to lapsed Catholics. The course included awareness of the adult National Curriculum level 1 and also of the pre-entry level curriculum, since many of the learners had very low levels of basic skills.

The ethos of Learning for Life is to provide a holistic and caring service to all people who request it, involving befriending and listening to learners and empowering them through personal development. It aims to raise the volunteers' awareness of human dignity, so that they treat learners with respect, and become activists, sign-posters and mentors to promote learning in their own communities. The first course gave the volunteers the confidence to teach basic skills to learners who requested it, as well as making them more aware of the difficulties faced by those who lack these skills.

Results of the project
Some of the volunteers are now interested in becoming adult education teachers, and some are now working at centres which, as well as providing basic skills tuition, meet wider social needs: "Brush Strokes" is a service for people who have arrived from other countries which also provides advice and mentoring, food and clothing; and another centre arranges social outings for refugees and asylum seekers to get to know each other.

Around 200 learners were involved, and staff found that as well as improving their basic skills and confidence, the programme has led some who were not previously seeking employment to do so. Relatively few of the 'hard to reach' were in fact reached, but those who were continue to attend, in part because of the flexibility offered to them in terms of venue and times, which have been found to be important issues for them.

The future
The programme will continue to be funded by the Archdiocese. There are plans to make available City and Guilds level 2 certificate (9295) to all people in Birmingham by spring 2004, in partnership with Birmingham Churches Together and Matthew Bolton College, and eventually to offer levels 3 and 4 to all those in the West Midlands area.

Contact: Parishandfamily.Maryvale@dial.pipex.com

Two Saints runs an open access day centre in Southampton for homeless and vulnerably housed people, and the Learning Zone is an integrated part of the centre. It provides a place for people to improve their basic skills through creative and practical projects, including art, cookery, gardening, pottery, photography, cycle maintenance or anything else of personal interest, and also hosts exhibitions of artwork and produces a regular magazine of creative writing. The aim is that through improving their skills, clients will grow in confidence and self esteem, and this will combat the marginalisation they often experience. Learning is made accessible to the centre's clients because their immediate practical needs are met, on the basis that "you can't teach anyone who is hungry, cold, wet or distressed", and because the practical projects include basic skills in a non-threatening way.

What goes on
The Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF) grant allowed for the establishment of the Learning Zone - a safe and relaxed environment, important for clients who had had a negative experience of traditional learning. Each participant had an initial basic skills assessment, including a learner risk assessment, because of the nature of the client group. An individual learning plan was developed with a qualified tutor, and clients then worked at their own pace, beginning in the first stage Learning Zone room with a practical or creative subject with integrated basic skills work. The tailored learning plans helped clients with poor study skills and challenging social behaviour, by not expecting them to fit into a structured course of study.

Second and third "rungs" or rooms were established for further learning, and clients were helped to explore progression routes to further education, training, employment or voluntary work, including delivering learning to other participants. Participants were also given opportunities to take part in a group activity such as an Internet club or contributing to the magazine, and to take up onsite, accredited basic skills courses. The IT facilities gave them access to the Internet and email, and they were able to set up their own web pages. The centre manager stressed the importance of making available high quality, appealing reading material, and found that if for example comics were left "lying around", they soon disappeared!

Results of the project
As a result of the project, participants improved their communications skills and their confidence in dealing with tasks in everyday life. They were able to contribute to the community: for example, some participants donated money from the sale of their artwork to a local children's charity. Staff also observed an increased stability in clients' housing and health situations. Staff themselves increased their awareness of basic skills issues, with some receiving training to support the clients.

Partnerships
Partnership with the local further education college, the local council, the Rough Sleepers Unit and Scottish Power meant that Two Saints was able to expand the project to other areas such as its hostel and substance misuse service. The Learning Zone has continued to run, and the UK Online initiative has enabled it to provide over a dozen PCs on site. The ongoing partnership with Southampton City College offers clients access to more regular, structured learning.

Links:
For more information, including examples of clients' work, visit www.homelesspages.co.uk, call 01329 234600 or email admin@twosaints.org.uk
This example was taken from
www.basic-skills.co.uk/site/page.php?cms=3&p=586

More on the Adult and Community Learning Fund

Background and vision
LifeLine Community Projects (LCP) is a charity which offers a variety courses for adults who are returning to education or just starting out. Its vision is to facilitate learning opportunities focusing on personal development, empowering people to make positive life choices and enabling them to realise their potential, recognise their value in the community and understand that they can make a positive change in their environment. One of the ways it does this is through learndirect courses.

Learning@LifeLine
Learning@LifeLine is LCP's training centre, situated in a converted office building on a residential street in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It offers basic skills, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and IT courses, mostly through learndirect computer-based learning. The centre aims to engage people who would not normally access learning because of personal circumstances or lack of confidence, and targets primarily unemployed people, benefit claimants, parents, young adults, ESOL learners, refugees and asylum seekers.

LCP also ran a course of ESOL classes at a health centre, combined with post-natal support. A health visitor was present and the course covered useful English for new mothers, including information on accessing local services. Staff built a trusting relationship with one learner, who they discovered to be in urgent housing need. They were then able to accompany her to social services to help resolve the problem.

learndirect
The training centre has 90-100 active learners, most of whom come in through word of mouth. Several are women who initially attended the practical ESOL classes for women from ethnic minorities which LCP runs as a separate project. Learners' main reasons for attending are to gain the skills they need to get a job or to be able to help their children with homework. They have an initial consultation with a member of staff to discover what they would like to do and identify the most suitable course(s), and regular reviews thereafter. Occasionally a learner may be intent on taking a specific IT course but may have very poor basic skills, which can mean a lot of work for the staff, who are always on hand to support any learner having difficulties. In some of these cases the trainer is able to suggest a more suitable, basic-skills oriented course, which can be marketed to the learner as something to assess their skills levels. On the basis of this the trainer and learner can agree an individual learning plan. The centre also has links with the local further education college and is able to direct learners there if learndirect is unable to supply a course to meet their needs.

A wide range of learndirect courses is available, including "Introduction to using your computer"; "Helping your child with their homework"; "Getting a job"; the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) and the CLAIT certificates for IT users. There are also "Skills For Life" courses which provide the opportunity to improve basic skills through relevant day-to-day life challenges. The aim is to boost confidence, for example when it comes to choosing the best deals when out shopping, understanding forms and knowing if you have been over charged. The classes are held in a flexible and varied format, including child friendly provision (with free crèche), single and mixed sex classes, individual and group sessions, and daytime, evening, and weekend opening. Although learners can work on learndirect courses at home if they have a computer, they often find that the routine of coming into the centre, and the social interaction this brings, can provide more of a motivation to learn.

The centre's achievements
Almost all learners complete their courses, and many gain accreditation. At least one learner has found a job thanks directly to the ICT training he undertook; another, who came along to learn ICT so that she could help her children, found that she was finally able to have a conversation with her husband about computers, since he talks of little else! The centre attributes its success to its friendly atmosphere and helpful staff, and also to its values of honesty and integrity. This means that staff are committed to making sure that learners are on the right course for them, and that LCP makes sure that it does everything that it says it will.

Development
The centre also approached two local primary schools and set up learndirect "pods" in their ICT suites, where parents can drop in after bringing their children to school. Not many learners have attended these sessions so far, so a presentation to parents and shorter, "taster" courses are planned.

Making the most of the training centre
LCP has successfully bid for other pots of funding to enable it to make best use of the facilities it provides.

Jobcentre Plus
LCP has a contract with Jobcentre Plus to offer a package of learning targeted at learners from ethnic minorities. Each learner in the scheme is offered an ESOL class three times a week with crèche, an ICT class twice a week with crèche (and additional sessions as the learner wishes without crèche), and "life skills" (CV preparation, interview technique etc) once a week. The IT class can lead to ECDL or CLAIT accreditation if the learner wishes.

A+
The London Development Agency is funding Learning@LifeLine to run the A+ computer networking course (the basic qualification for a career as a PC technician). Some learndirect clients may wish to progress to college, but this provides a more vocational alternative, fitting in with LCP's aim of providing "real qualifications for real jobs".

ICT Test Bed Project
LCP is being funded by the Learning and Skills Council to engage parents in ICT-based learning through a four year DfES pilot project - the ICT Test Bed Project - to examine how effective use of ICT can support the wider Government agenda of school reform. Schools in the three pilot areas of the country - Barking and Dagenham, Durham and Sandwell - will invest in very high levels of IT hardware and software and will receive the support they need to make most effective use of this investment. The project is designed to identify best practice across all the different areas of activity and will provide a possible model for the longer term development of ICT in schools nationwide.

Links:

• Contact Learning@LifeLine by calling 020 8597 2900 or emailing lauracrosbie@lifelinenetwork.org
• For LCP visit www.lifelinecommunityprojects.org
• For the ICT Test Bed Project visit www.dfes.gov.uk/ictinschools
• More on learndirect - or visit www.learndirect.co.uk

This was initially a literacy initiative linking six museums, three adult education providers and London Underground, running from September 2002 to April 2003. It was run again from July 2003 to April 2004 with libraries as partners.

Partners
During the first project, Gunnersbury Park Museum worked with clients who had ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) needs, including refugees and asylum seekers. Partners included West London College and the London Transport Museum.
Cuming Museum worked with 18 clients from the local community, and partners included Southwark College and the Museum of London.
The Ragged School Museum worked with 14 clients on three different courses with a range of literacy needs. Partners included Tower Hamlets College, Arbour Square and the Science Museum.

What went on
Museum education staff were given training in the new adult curriculum by a basic skills tutor - the first time this had happened in London. This meant that the basic skills activities which the learners took part in were specially designed to fit the museums' collections. Tutors from the further education colleges also worked with museum professionals and an adviser tutor from the City Lit [college]. This enabled the different partners to deepen their understanding of the ethos of each other's organisations, which staff found very useful and felt would lead to long term relationships between them.

The learners undertook a variety of activities, delivered in both the small, local museums and the central ones, and in London Underground stations. For example, they handled and investigated museum artefacts, filled in worksheets, wrote journals and took part in role play drama sessions. They also chose which two of the larger museums to visit.

Results of the project
Each class produced an exhibition to demonstrate the learning that had taken place, and these displays were a source of great pride for the learners, tutors and museum staff. One group produced a leaflet on the Cuming Museum, for use by the public.

The visits to Underground stations were successful in encouraging learners to use public transport and to think about finding a job on the Underground.

The museums involved were able to develop strategies for supporting adults with basic skills needs, and learnt from the tutors' skills in relating to these groups of adults, who are often vulnerable. A new audience was also introduced to museums, as 60% of participants had never visited a museum before.

Quotes from learners

"I learnt a lot of things from the project. The writing about how we had been on the trip helped my literacy… I am going to send the leaflet to my dad in Africa."

"I was very happy because we were 12 students and we came from different countries we talk together and its very exciting London Museum. Really it's very beautiful, I liked it because that day was first time to I been museum for my life."

"I see wonderful items and I hold treasure. I look at wonderful heart desire. I was comfortable in the Cuming Collection. That place is a nice place to go."

Link:
For more information visit www.clmg.org.uk/mgli/gallery

Reference:
L. Richardson (2004) Case Study Report: Ore Valley Resident Service Organisation (working paper, part of The Role of Community Involvement in Improving Services in Deprived Areas: A Research Project for the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit, ODPM), London: LSE Housing, Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics and Political Science / SQW Ltd

Patchwork, now part of Community Housing Group, was a supported housing association in London helping 16 to 24-year-olds in need of housing and help with other issues in their lives, including training and employment. Funding from the Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF) enabled Patchwork to provide an accredited sports leaders' course for their clients that also included support for their basic skills.

What went on
This course was marketed simply as a sports course, and basic skills were taught in the context of sport. Although the course was structured so that half the time was eventually spent on basic skills, this element was not introduced for some weeks, following an initial assessment using the Basic Skills Agency's Fast Track tool. This meant that clients who may have had only negative experiences of learning were already engaged in the course by the time one-to-one basic skills support began.

Results and what worked
The course gave clients the opportunity not only to improve their skills and so to access the support they needed more easily, but also to develop their confidence and leadership skills, as accreditation was offered through the Community Sports Leader Award. The word "assessment" was not mentioned, in order not to put participants off learning, but recognition of their achievements was considered very important. Staff also found that clients were encouraged by the fact that a basic skills tutor joined in the sport with them, although she was in no way an expert. Flexibility in the practical arrangements of the course, such as marketing, timings and course length, was another factor which helped it to succeed.

Engaging project staff
Patchwork found that enthusing its frontline workers in the course was more of a challenge than engaging the clients. The organisation therefore developed awareness-raising and assessment training for all staff who had contact with clients. This included providing taster courses for both clients and staff - this helped some staff who had had negative experiences of sport and were therefore reluctant to refer clients to the course - and a clear referral process. This increased numbers of appropriate referrals to the course, and meant that Patchwork became able to offer basic skills awareness training to its partners such as Connexions, other housing associations and current and potential funders.

Links:
For Community Housing Group visit www.communityhousinggroup.org.uk

More on the Adult and Community Learning Fund
Young people section

The Home Office requires all Probation Services to provide education for offenders on community orders, and in Nottinghamshire this is done through PALS, a partnership between Nottinghamshire Probation Service and the Dyslexia Institute.

What goes on
PALS provides all offenders reporting to Nottinghamshire Probation Service with an individual, in-depth assessment of their strengths and weaknesses and any general or specific difficulties they have. A professional basic skills tutor or dyslexia specialist then works with the offender to develop an Individual Learning Plan, and tuition is provided leading to the national literacy and numeracy qualifications.

All contacts are made on Probation premises and the teaching environment is part of the building, since most of the learners would find it hard to approach or access community provision. Some learners are taught one-to-one and others in small groups, which are supported by volunteers. Even in groups, the reading, writing and spelling support is individually tailored. Post graduate dyslexia specialists from the Institute teach learners who need this support. Learners have access to a wide range of paper and IT-based resources, and are given diaries and reminder calls or cards to aid their attendance and organisation. They are supported in the area of communications - for example, help with writing letters covers readability, layout and font style.

PALS also aims to ensure that all probation officers are trained in dyslexia awareness, and all employment officers are trained in using screening tests to identify areas of difficulty.

Results of the project
Project staff have observed the improvement in participants' confidence, literacy skills and behaviour, and numbers attending have increased since PALS began in 1999. PALS has links with community-based learning and supports learners in accessing mainstream provision, which helps the learners to become engaged with the local community. The Home Office, though Oxford University, is carrying out research into the effect of the scheme on reconviction rates.

The project team is dynamic and committed, and members communicate well and regularly, which the PALS manager believes is a vital ingredient in the project's success. Another factor is the quarterly "PALS press" publication, featuring the project's success stories.

PALS is funded by the Home Office, the Adult and Community Learning Service and the Dyslexia Institute.
Below is part of an exit interview with a 63-year-old client who found the project helped him:

"I wanted to come to PALS as soon as I was told that I could come. My reading and writing weren't very good because my wife used to read for me and write my letters. Now I want to be independent. I've nearly finished my time here and I've found the classes helpful and interesting and rewarding as well. My handwriting has always been good because I used to find books that I could copy from even though I couldn't read them properly. I wanted to be good at something so I helped myself that way. I think using the computer to help me with my spelling has been the most useful part of the programme.
When I leave here I am going to continue going to night school and carry on with reading and spelling. When I am better at that I'd like to join a maths class though I'm quite good at maths and then a computer class. I think the computer class will probably be the most interesting and my son has got one so I'll be able to practise on his. If anyone was feeling a bit shy about coming to PALS to learn, I would encourage him to come and improve him or herself."

Links:
For further information contact japiafi@nottm-di.freeserve.co.uk
For Nottinghamshire Probation Service visit
www.nottinghamshire-probation.co.uk
For the Dyslexia Institute visit www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk/index.htm

St Bernadette's is an outreach centre offering business and ICT courses, based in a converted church building in Brinnington, a deprived area of Stockport. It was established after the project managers undertook local consultation to make sure that they were attempting to do something people wanted.

What goes on
It has 20 workstations with a fast Internet connection, and runs several courses, for example, Using ICT - Basic Skills; New CLAIT, European Computer Driving Licence, bookkeeping, keyboarding, word processing, audio transcription and job search skills. Learners can also take access courses enabling them to progress to higher education or simply follow an interest, and Certificate in Higher Education courses leading to a combined honours degree. The centre has also applied to become an access centre offering learndirect courses in 2004.

Over 200 people have taken courses at St Bernadette's; in 2002 more than 90% of students came from Brinnington, suggesting a demand in the community for what the centre offers. Evaluation evidence of its effectiveness is regularly supplied to the European agencies which provide funding (see below). It claims to be the best-equipped centre in the area, greatly improving local facilities, and to have improved community spirit. Staff feel that the "drop in anytime" policy, which applies to everything except the beginners' IT course, is a factor in its success. The project has also meant that the church building was saved.

Partners and funding
This centre is run by Aquinas College (a Catholic Sixth Form college which also has an Adult Centre), in partnership with St Bernadette's Church, Brinnington Partnership (a multi-agency partnership), the community group Brinnington Community First and Liverpool Hope University College. It is funded by Aquinas College, Liverpool Hope, Stockport's Single Regeneration Budget, the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, and there are plans to expand the centre using more European money.

The bulk of the initial grant was spent on renovating the heating and lighting in the church, and building an interior suite of two rooms to house the ICT Centre and the reception/seminar area. A ramp was built to allow disabled access to the centre, and the new toilet facilities were converted from the old confessionals!

Links:
For more information email education@dioceseofshrewsbury.org or visit www.stbernadettes.aquinas.ac.uk

Link:
More on learndirect

Skillzone is a small project, run by Learning Partnerships in Leeds and originally funded by the Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF), which teaches basic skills and English to adults who find it difficult to access mainstream adult education for various reasons. Tuition takes place in a variety of community venues, and students are mainly Bangladeshi and Pakistani women, who are being encouraged to improve and use their English, for example in order to pass the driving theory test.

Courses have been developed specifically to suit the needs of the individuals and small groups involved. Skillzone also produces materials tailor-made for individuals, and offers home tuition. It is flexible in its provision of times and venues to suit learners' needs. Each learner has an individual learning plan, regular reviews and a final review where progression routes are considered. Approximately 50 learners are involved each year.

Results of the project
The number of referrals has kept increasing, mostly through word of mouth rather than advertising. The project's approach has led to an increase in learners' confidence as their English improves, changing their aspirations regarding further learning and employment and their willingness to engage in the community, according to internal evaluation. Accreditation is provided by the Open College Network, and some learners achieve the OCR Entry level qualification; some have been able to pass their driving theory test as a result of the tuition. This course and materials have been made available on the Basic Skills Agency's website (see link below). Staff are considering non-accredited learning for some learners, where this might be appropriate.

What works
The following lessons have been learnt by staff at Skillzone, according to the evaluation produced by the project for the ACLF:

• Flexibility - the fact that staff have built up a close relationship with students means that they can negotiate rearranging the programme, including offering home tuition, if problems arise which lead to attendance difficulties. This means that learners are less likely to "drift away" if they have to take a break from classes.
• Tailoring materials to suit individuals' needs - tutors have devised some of their own materials in particular for entry level students, having found a shortage of commercially available resources. The ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) for Driving course was developed in direct response to need: a number of women in the area were desperate to pass their driving test but were finding the theory test a barrier. This course is motivating them to begin learning and to move on to other courses.
• Learner records - initial and final assessments are made and individual learning plans devised. Data is analysed to ensure that the project is reaching its target groups, and the project is directed accordingly.
• Use of IT - tutors take laptops to the learners and occasionally lend them out for use at home. This is often the first time that learners have used a computer, but as a result of the positive experience, many have expressed an interest in getting their own computer and also in helping their children with their homework.
• Successful partnerships - these have been formed with a wide range of organisations.

Staff have also discovered that the nature of the learners and the work in partnership means that they have to spend a great deal of time taking and making referrals, doing development work, liaising with other agencies and dealing with onerous paperwork for enrolment and certification. A larger project might make fewer demands on tutors in terms of non-teaching work.

In addition, most of the learners have little or no experience of independent study, which makes them very dependent on the tutor. Some are in desperate situations and, because of the individual relationships staff build up with the learners, they can find themselves spending a great deal of time giving non-teaching support. It is difficult to determine where the boundaries of their work lie, but they are building contacts with other agencies to which they can refer learners with particular problems.

Partnerships and funding
Skillzone has links with local community and educational organisations, as well as support from the Learning Partnerships team. For example, staff collaborate with ESOL tutors from Thomas Danby College (of further education), and the employer GE Capital is allowing some volunteers to provide tuition in work time. Two women's community centres provide some of the venues for tuition. Learners have access to specialised guidance from a community worker from the Leeds Information and Guidance Network, from staff at Thomas Danby College and from a local Employment Action Team, and there are also links with a local Sure Start programme, Leeds Advocacy and Interpreting Service and LASSN (Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network). The aim is to provide a safety net for learners once the project's involvement ends.
The project is funded by the ACLF until March 2004.

Links:
For more information call 0113 380 6662, email skillzone@learningpartnerships.org.uk or visit www.learningpartnerships.org.uk
For more on Skillzone's ESOL for Driving course visit
www.basic-skills.co.uk

Parental Involvement in Children's Education (PICE) - research by Learning Partnerships
More on Learning Partnerships
More on the Adult and Community Learning Fund

What goes on
The South Wye Literacy Project is an independent voluntary organisation which provides basic skills tuition to adults living in the South Wye area of Hereford, including those in work who wish to improve their basic skills. The area has 32.4% of residents with basic skills needs.

Around 200 learners are involved. Most students approach the project themselves, though there are links between the project and other organisations which can refer learners. The learners represent many of the groups which the government wishes to target with basic skills provision: mothers, 16 to 25-year-olds, employees with low skills, people with mental health problems and those recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.

Through the Open College Network, the project is able to offer learners a wide range of nationally accredited units mapped against the Core Curriculum, from which the learners are helped to select units which will be most relevant to them in their daily and working lives.
Programmes are delivered one-to-one by volunteer tutors, in small, discreet groups designed to suit learners' needs, and in the workplace.

What works
All students have initial and diagnostic assessments to enable the project to cater for their individual needs. Staff have found that the best way to prevent this from putting off people who might see it as a test is to treat it light-heartedly, by saying something like "The government makes us do this because it's a free course - what a bother, eh?" Similarly, staff say that they are careful in the language that they use with the students: instead of telling someone they have the reading age of a seven-year-old, for example, you can tell them that they have a "spiky profile".

In the workplace, the project has found that it is best to begin by offering practical courses such as first aid or food handling, which have an immediate and obvious benefit both to employer and employee, and in which basic skills can be embedded without any stigma. Having completed such a course, and had their achievement celebrated, some people have begun to see themselves as learners for the first time, and have felt able to sign up for a course that is more obviously focused on literacy. Some have even become "addicted to achievement"!

The project is situated in the heart of the community in a church hall, and is approachable to learners because it is small and friendly. It aims to meet the learners' individual needs and provide support and pastoral care for them: for example, one learner who has now moved on to college comes back to the project to run the crèche, because she has such good friends there. Learners have to enrol only once and are then members for life rather than enrolling each year, and the courses run on the calendar year, not the school year. The project has found that providing one-to-one tuition builds learners' confidence, as does making accreditation available to all, and really celebrating achievement.

Evidence of success
The project sees its success in its growth over three years and in retaining students and seeing them progress. It gained a 2 in an Adult Learning Inspectorate report in 2003, and has been featured as a model of good practice in a DfES video, "Staying Ahead".

Funding
The project is funded by the Learning and Skills Council, Single Regeneration Budget and Herefordshire Council. It has applied for funding to replicate the work in other parts of Herefordshire, and also intends to increase its workplace Skills for Life provision, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises.

Links:

• Contact: Julie@helpvcs.co.uk
• More on workplace basic skills

Kent Arts and Libraries' Words Without Frontiers project worked with asylum seekers and refugees who were residing, working and/or studying in Kent, even if only temporarily. It aimed to increase access to library services for these groups, was funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Wolfson Fund and was established in 2001.

What went on
A major part of the project was to increase the amount of materials in libraries' stock that reflected the different cultures, and to assist individuals with learning English. This involved translations into and from a number of languages, a process not without difficulties because of the shortage of translators in some languages (e.g. Iraqi Kurds). Not only stock but invoices from suppliers might arrive almost entirely in another language! All stock was clearly labelled with a symbol to help those still struggling with their English to access the resources. Awareness training for staff helped promote understanding of what it was like to be an asylum seeker or refugee. Activities to market the resource included storytelling, guided tours of the libraries (for unaccompanied minors and their workers) and a series of cultural events.

What worked

• Having a large network of contacts, organised in a database, so that all was not lost when one partner had unavoidably to pull out of the project. The database is now available to all libraries in the county.
• Installing computers in libraries from which clients could access information on the area and news in their own languages. This brought in large numbers of clients.
• Having a credit card so that purchases could be made online.
• Holding a small core of stock so that any new town or village being used to accommodate asylum seekers could be quickly targeted with it.
• Allocating staff to develop local contacts so that the right kind of stock is held in the right towns.

Results of the project
As a result of the project, there is increased use of the libraries: groups working with refugees or asylum seekers can get group membership, but individual membership is also now available. Over six months, two target libraries gained 150 new users between them from this client group. A toolkit was developed to help libraries in other parts of the country work with asylum seekers and refugees, and approximately 50 copies of it have been sold to other authorities.

Partners
Partners in this project include the County Council's social services and adult education service, South East Arts and Dover Council. A number of voluntary and statutory agencies who work with refugees were also consulted in the development phase.

Links:
To read more about the project visit www.mla.gov.uk
For more details, or to find out about the toolkit, contact project manager Sue Fordham. Email: sue.fordham@kent.gov.uk Tel: 01304 379290

More examples of initiatives funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Wolfson Fund

Frances Sword, head of education at Fitzwilliam Museum, describes some collaborative work between the Fitzwilliam Museum Education Department and the Cambridge Regional College, Academy for Basic Education.

"I didn't know I could do that, I didn't know I could do that, I didn't know I could do that." The repetition, like a little mantra, was stated quietly but with such feeling. We were sitting in front of the 'Last of England', by Ford Maddox Brown, everyone had just read aloud their writing, produced during the previous week, and at that moment any of us could have made that statement. The 'Art Into Literacy' course was a wonderful experience that stretched and surprised each of us.

This five week Basic Skills embedded course took place in the galleries of the Fitzwilliam Museum during January and February of 2003. The calm and stately galleries contain works of art vibrant with interest and of great beauty. The works themselves, which stem from cultures as varied as the history of mankind, all communicate through visual style, through the visual language which forms the basis of the work of the Museum's Education Staff. We work to create personal dialogues between the collections and visitors and all our work takes place in direct contact with the works on display. Whoever we are working with, all our work starts in the same way, with people talking. Our main tool for all we do is words.

We talk with people in many ways. We tell stories, we ask questions, we read poems, we give lectures, we chat. The words that are generated form bridges between cultures, eras, artists and viewers: between viewers and the works of art. The ideas and discussions generated by the works of art often lead into action. These actions complete a circle that starts in the mind of the original artist and ends with new work that encapsulates the viewer's thoughts.

For many years we have worked with people of all ages, extending gallery discussions into writing. During these poetry, prose and drama sessions we have noticed how the shift from the visual to the verbal oils thinking and creates confidence. We have witnessed a particular type of release that stems from talking with others through the intermediary of a visual work of art. There is a verbal fluency and confidence encouraged by viewers working in a different language from that of the artwork, through a translation from the visual to the verbal. The extension of this work into the area of Basic Skills seemed a natural path, but we were quite unprepared for the extraordinary results.

Our weekly two-hour sessions in the galleries were spent looking in depth at just one or two paintings chosen to stimulate a genre of writing included in the Adult Literacy Core Curriculum. We used memories and role play, we read poetry and prose, to enable the group to make the paintings their own to enter into the works. As they took ownership, ideas formed and words flowed. At first we wrote together to build confidence, but as the course progressed this step was often unnecessary, for confidence levels rose so quickly that by the second session everyone was quite happy to write independently and to read their work with justified pride.

The writings were in response to these set tasks:

Session 1: Write a descriptive text based on a seascape by Monet
Session 2: Write an introduction and conclusion for a narrative based on The Last of England by Ford Maddox Brown
Session 3: At the end of this session each student was given a bunch of flowers, they were asked to write a description of them, using ideas of imagery and association that were central to the gallery session looking at flower paintings.
Session 4 & 5: Write a narrative or descriptive text in prose or poetry about the varied paintings of women we looked at.

The generation of writing always and importantly began in the galleries, but everyone took reproductions of the works home and the writing was finished between sessions. Every week we all eagerly waited to hear what each person had produced and the group fed from each other just as they fed from the paintings.

Within this course are the seeds of many more. Much work needs to take place to realise the potential that has been demonstrated, but there is no doubt that this way of working does result in new confidence, acute thinking, real feeling and accurate expression. There is no doubt in our minds that art objects, which communicate through the artist's deliberate manipulation of the visual language, can result in new levels of fluency and control of verbal expression."

Jane Miller, programme leader for adult literacy at Cambridge Regional College makes the following additional points:

"All of the course participants were existing literacy students who had previously completed a 'Keeping Up With the Children' course, focusing on their children's and their own literacy development. In the 'Art into Literacy' course, the students decided unanimously to concentrate on the enhancement of their own literacy skills.

The Adult Literacy Core Curriculum encourages adults to write in a wide range of genres; control of the writing process is vital in order to achieve this. The aims of this course, therefore, were for students to produce descriptive and narrative texts based on the paintings under discussion. Underpinning this work was the development of the writing process from initial thoughts to proof reading.

The students were enthusiastic in their response to the paintings and engaged fully with each subject. Risks were taken; people experimented with form and produced poetry as well as prose. They wrote pieces of sensory description which contained detailed observations and rich, dramatic imagery. Narrative writing was imaginative and bold, featuring vivid dialogue and acutely observed settings.

We were surprised that such powerful writing was produced in the public setting of the Fitzwilliam galleries; this required a high level of confidence which the students achieved within the short timescale of the course.

The aims of the course were more than achieved; skills were developed and re-discovered and everyone produced effective and often breathtaking work. In terms of progression, each student expressed a strong desire to undertake further courses devoted to the development of their expressive skills."