Latest News from Learning Partnerships

Congratulations to our Volunteer Literacy Programme Manager, Gail Clark, who received a ‘Special Mention’ in June this year at The Yorkshire Women of Achievement Awards 2009.

Gail was nominated for the Education Award in recognition of her 10 years service to recruiting, training, placing and supporting volunteers from both local businesses and communities to support children’s literacy in inner city primary schools.

This last year her 200 volunteers have supported over 700 children making a significant improvement in their reading ability, confidence, self-esteem, speech and language.

The event, run by The Yorkshire Evening Post, began over 20 years ago as a way of celebrating the achievements of Yorkshire women and raising money for Sue Ryder Care Wheatfields Hospice in Leeds. The event continues to grow in profile and prominence, bringing stories of personal achievement from all across the Yorkshire region.

The first ‘Welcome to Leeds’ Summer School was arranged by the Job Zone, it spanned across three days and was well-attended by ESOL students wanting to see a wider variety of the sights Leeds has to offer. Development Worker Zahoor Ahmed and ESOL Tutor Sally Spencer accompanied twelve students around Leeds whilst they practiced their English skills, building on confidence that has been developed in classes.

We feel that by visiting local attractions such as the Cathedral, Leeds City Museum, Leeds Art Gallery and Millennium Square on foot and by bus, students can develop their awareness of environments that they may have previously found daunting. Students also got the chance to visit and join Leeds Central Library giving them access to resources that they may not have had or even known about previously and there was also a chance socialise when they stopped for a picnic at Park Square.

We expect that this experience, whilst relaxed and informal, will help attendees to feel more comfortable in our community and give them a greater understanding of our city and culture.

The success of our Volunteer Literacy Programme was recognised in April this year at the Yorkshire Forward Better Futures Awards for its partnership work with city centre law firm, Addleshaw Goddard since 2000. The prestigious awards highlight the successful partnerships between private sector and voluntary, community and faith organisations. They aim to demonstrate true partnership working and encourage the sharing and development of skills, knowledge and best practice within the community for its economic development. Each of the winning voluntary organisations received a prize of £10,000 to invest in their cause. Gail Clark, Volunteer Manager for Learning Partnerships comments;

“Winning one of the Creating Better Futures Awards has made our year and a significant contribution to the sustainability of our Volunteer Literacy Programme. We are delighted to have been chosen as one of the winners against some other very worthwhile and deserving organisations."

“Not only is it a great achievement for both ourselves and Addleshaw Goddard but also, an official thank you to the volunteers for their time and commitment in supporting local primary school children."

 "The Awards highlight the amazing work that is currently going on between the voluntary, community & faith sectors with private and public organisations to make the city of Leeds a better place."