News
NEWS RELEASE
September 2009
Birmingham Arthritis Appeals Trust (BAAT) on behalf of Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre BARC wins Government funding bid to help kick start The Learning Revolution in Birmingham
Birmingham Arthritis Appeals Trust (BAAT)is celebrating securing £72,320 from the Government as part of a 'learning for pleasure' innovation spearheaded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
Birmingham Arthritis Appeals Trust (BAAT)- one of over 213 winning projects - will be running a scheme to educate arthritis sufferers from disadvantaged communities in Birmingham. There are over 9 million people suffering with arthritis nationally. Within Birmingham there are approximately 480,000 suffering from one form of the disease or another. A recent report by the influential Kings Fund on patients’ perception of their care makes it clear that there is inadequate provision for both patients and their families to learn how best to self-manage the disease. The target groups for our project are people from minority ethnic communities whose current struggle to understand their disease is blocked by problems related to limited education, social background and language barriers.
The Birmingham Arthritis Resource Centre (BARC) was set up to provide education and support to people with arthritis and their carers, based on a formal Needs Assessment. The Centre is a multi-cultural educational project based on a partnership between Birmingham University and Birmingham City Council (Leisure and Culture). Our aim is to promote self-coping - to help people to deal with the physical and social disabilities caused by their disease. A notable achievement to date is that we have developed 'bottom-up' educational and support material in audio format to enable people with arthritis to access information in both plain English and a simple locally used form of Urdu.
Our structured survey evaluating this audio material illustrated that people with arthritis and their carers do appreciate information tailored to their needs and in locally used languages. The self-confidence gained should enhance their ability to self-cope with their disease. BARC is committed to help improve the quality of life of patients and carers of rheumatic diseases through appropriate education. One patients experience sums up the value of the BARC service:-
'I have a better understanding of the condition and know where to go for further information'.
Across the nation, a diverse array of informal adult learning projects will be getting underway, ranging from creative music master classes for people out of work or education, learning adventures for isolated older people and reading opportunities for the over 60s.
This grant is from the £20 million Transformation Fund, launched by Government to offer funding to innovative informal adult learning projects in England. This brings to life The Learning Revolution, a White Paper presented to Parliament in March 2009.
The projects, many spearheaded by partnerships between public, private and third sector organisations, will help improve mental health, physical well-being, active citizenship and community cohesion, as well as providing a stepping stone towards further learning, qualifications and employment for many people.
Projects include:
- An initiative to engage more than 2,000 adults who are not currently in training, employment or education, through celebrity-led creative music and media tasters, master classes and workshops, led by a partnership which includes Global Radio, the parent group of Heart FM, LBC and Galaxy stations
- A partnership between Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, Merseytravel, Urbis and a National Trust property which will create ‘learning journeys’ for young people 19-25, older people living in isolation and people recovering from substance abuse. Each learner will use a free bus pass to take journeys around travel ‘lines’, including the Engineering Line, the Football Line and the Mersey Beat Line.
- A project at Tyneside Cinema, in partnership with Newcastle University, to use the cinema’s new spaces and facilities to deliver digital technology, moving image, communications and IT learning to a wide range of people from different social backgrounds and develop online learning tools for others to share.
- A massive campaign, led by Booktrust and delivered through GP surgeries, libraries and Adult Education centres, to inspire thousands of over-60s to take up reading or writing for pleasure.
Kevin Brennan, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Consumer Affairs, said:
“We’re happy to announce 213 successful recipients of our Transformation Fund grants, awarded in the face of stiff competition from a field of 1,400 applications. With projects ranging from creative writing and music to reading and art, it’s encouraging to see so many imaginative ideas for giving adults more opportunities to learn for the love of it.”
“The benefits of learning for pleasure in an informal setting are wide-ranging, and they benefit the community as well as the individual. I hope that many people will develop the confidence and the local connections to take a big step towards a brighter future.”
The announcement about the latest Transformation Fund grants follows the award of £1 million worth of ‘early bird’ funding in July.
Alan Tuckett, Chief Executive of NIACE, added:
“NIACE is proud to have the role of supporting the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in managing the Transformation Fund. We argued in our response to the Informal Adult Learning consultation that there is no better stimulus for local adult learning providers than the creation of a fund to trigger innovation and new partnerships.”
“There’s already evidence from the ‘early bird’ bids of how creative and imaginative community-based adult learning can be when given the funding to put ideas into practice.”
Informal adult learning encompasses a wide variety of activities and can range from a self-organised reading group in a village hall to a guided visit to nature reserve or stately home. Other Learning Revolution activities include The Learning Revolution Festival: a month-long celebration of informal adult learning that kicks off in October 2009.
To find out more about The Learning Revolution, visit www.bis.gov.uk/learningrevolution
