Learning for All

‘Learning for All’ is a Business in the Community pilot project, funded by the Learning and Skills Council North East, designed to help employees learn something new! The project aims to encourage employees back in to learning via fun, informal opportunities such as classes in digital photography, conversational Spanish, fly fishing and card making.

"Investing in skills is critical to our future prosperity - it has never been more important"

The project uses ‘Learning Champions’ based in the workplace to promote learning to their peers, discovering the types of short courses that would be of interest to staff, and establishing the best time for the course to run.
Informal (semi structured) learning can occur in a variety places, including at home, at work or thorough daily interactions. The Learning for All programme focuses on providing courses based primarily in the workplace, taking place at either lunchtimes or after work. 

Learning at Work:

The best employers already support informal adult learning for their staff, because they recognise the benefits it offers their employees and the organisation. The Learning for All programme believes learning through the workplace – not necessarily in work time – should be encouraged, not least  because of the opportunities for team building and increased productivity it provides, but also to increase vocational and transferable skills.

Business in the Community want to encourage employers to work with them to offer opportunities for their staff to take part in informal learning at work, increasing their skills and confidence and helping prepare their work force for the challenges of the future. 
 

The context:

We are currently witnessing the biggest restructuring of the global economy since the rise of the USA. Over the next 10 years China and India will double in economic size while the UK will be only 25% larger. By 2020 the Chinese economy will be bigger than all 27 EU economies put together. In this fast changing context, global competition and an international labour market pose a huge challenge to Britain, where in our knowledge-based economy, people and their talents are the principal resource.   
  
The challenge is to mobilise business to expand and accelerate their role in supporting individuals in work and the wider community. This must focus people on continually upgrading their skills and expanding the countries pool of talent to meet further demands and raise productivity. The Learning for All project provides an excellent starting point for companies to progress down this road or for those already supporting the up-skilling of their workforce to enhance the options that they offer their staff.