Exeter College Hosts Inaugural Business and Trade Select Committee

On the morning of Tuesday 3rd December, Exeter College hosted the Business and Trade Select Committee, made up of 11 MPs, who met with 30 local businesses. The event provided an opportunity for the College’s valued partners in the South West to discuss and feedback directly to the Committee, their challenges and opportunities in the current economic climate.

This event formed part of the Business and Trade Select Committee’s series of six regional roadshows. This wider engagement exercise hopes to hear from businesses and workers, investors and consumers to help shape the Committee’s work plan for the months and years ahead. Exeter College Humanities students had the opportunity to listen in on these important discussions.

Business and Trade Select Committee gather at Exeter College — The Business and Trade Select Committee with Richard Church, Chief Operating Officer and Jade Otty, Deputy CEO.

Liam Byrne MP, Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, said;

“This is the first of our national engagement events. The Business and Trade Committee is travelling the country listening to the voice of business and trade unions and consumer groups about what they would like us as a committee to focus on for the next five years.

“I really wanted to start at Exeter College. I’ve known the college for many years, it’s always been famous for having outstanding networks of relationships with the business community. I knew that if we wanted to hear from as many businesses as possible, as fast as possible, Exeter College was the place to kick the tour off.

“What we got today was exactly what I hoped for. We received a real diversity of views from business and very clear messages about how the cost of business has gone up and they have real ambition to plough through that. There were some clear asks of government such as investment in infrastructure, investment in skills, more available housing, and better access to finance.

“For us, as a committee, we’ve got some clear marching orders from today that will help us shape our enquiries for the course of this Parliament.”

Mike Blakeley, Executive Director of Apprenticeships and Partnerships said;

“Liam engaged with Exeter College around 10 years ago and knew how exceptional we were as an organisation, and how well linked we were with business. When the gauntlet was thrown down to host the inaugural business select committee, it turned to Exeter to be able to bring this together.

“We are delighted to pull together from our employer and stakeholder network to find some brilliant business voices to share their experiences with the Business Select Committee and hopefully make some positive change. Our businesses and stakeholders support the college brilliantly, so it was great to get them involved in this unique event.”

Bindu Arjoon, Exeter City Council’s Chief Executive, was among those who attended the meeting.

Bindu said: “This was a great opportunity for business leaders in Exeter and across Devon to share their experiences and provide feedback directly to the Business and Trade Select Committee on the opportunities and challenges facing the region to help inform government’s thinking on business and investment, as well as feeding back on the impact of the autumn budget.

“Exeter College plays a key role in working with businesses to ensure that as a city, we have the skilled workforce we need to continue to succeed and thrive in the future, so it provided the perfect setting for the committee to hear a wide range of views on how Government can best support the many great initiatives currently taking place in the region, particularly to boost skills, training, housing and infrastructure.”

The Committee wishes to hear views on the Government’s goals for the UK economy to have the fastest sustained economic growth in the G7; how it will deliver a pro-business, pro-worker’ agenda; develop closer trading relationships with others; and maintain the UK’s status as a global leader in protecting customers. The Committee will publish a report in the New Year listing who it has heard from and what the top priorities will be for its work.

Urban Learning Academy Supports Learning in the Community

The Urban Learning Academy (ULA) held an engagement event today at Exeter Library. The community learning project is a partnership between local providers in Exeter and has formed an Alliance that includes; Exeter College, CoLab, Exeter City Council and Devon County Council.

The ULA is a venture exploring innovative approaches toward city-wide inclusive adult learning opportunities. It offers a range of sessions taking place in community hubs across the city.

Partners are collaborating to provide opportunities for adults to participate in free and low-cost learning across the city.

Rob Bosworth, Vice Principal and Deputy CEO at Exeter College, said;

“There is a burgeoning need in the city for a type of learning offer, that is different to the traditional offer, for people that do not have the confidence or have found past learning experiences difficult.

“By collaborating with several different organisations in the city, that share our passion and values for outreach, the ULA will be in the community in venues like libraries to offer the type of learning that is going to reengage members of the public that haven’t stepped into a classroom in years.

“The city is growing, there are more people, which is great, but it does bring its own challenges, further compounded now by the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit and unemployment.

“Exeter College has fantastic partnerships in the city and by joining together we have an opportunity to do this for the people in the community.”

Jo Cuthbertson, Learning Matters Lead at CoLab Exeter, said:

“The ULA really is committed to offering a wide range of community learning opportunities, doing things differently and connecting communities through learning and meaningful activity. Our learners are at the centre of all we do.

“We will work from the grassroots level to bring organisations, communities and individuals together to connect and break down barriers, offering free and very low cost opportunities to learn in our city.

“The ULA will enable people to learn, empower individuals to make choices about their learning journey and hopefully use learning as a tool for change to help transform lives.

“In just 5 months we have doubled our learning offer in our ULA programme and increased the number of learning providers being part of the ULA Partnership. It’s a very exciting time to be involved and we are still building on this and has scope for so much more”

Jola Pawlikowska, Community Ambassador at CoLab, will be reaching out to people in the community. She said;

“My job is to ensure that people with complex needs have access to education and training. That’s through informal training, through drop-ins, that then can be a seed that can move forward and progress people through to more formal training and progression opportunities.

The ULA aims to empower and transform the lives of people who find it hardest to connect and engage. Working in partnership with learning providers in Exeter, a varied and inclusive learning programme has been designed. Workshops include; Be Kind to Your Mind, Woodwork for Wellbeing, Walking Football, Writing Flash Fiction, Emotional First Aid and much more.

Phill Adams is Economic Inclusion Lead at Devon County Council and Lead Officer for Learn Devon. He said;

“Learn Devon is one of the direct delivery partners in this initiative. It’s really important for us to move the residents of Devon forward and give them those life chances, pathways into work or learning and wider life opportunities that we all strive for.

“The big thing for us, particularly with cost of living, is finding jobs and pathways which allow people to move into careers and find income at a time when it is hard going out there.

“At a time when the economy is turbulent, we need to be creating those moments when people shift onto a new career or a new option.”

Councillor Duncan Wood, Lead Councillor for Skills at Exeter City Council added;

“The reason that we are involved in the Urban Learning Academy is because we have a clear strategic priority around supporting people to engage in learning, help to move people towards employment and the workplace.

“We see this as being key in terms of doing that, engaging with some of those people that aren’t involved in any kind of learning or education at the moment and helping them on that journey back towards being fully engaged in life in the city.”

Rachel Payne, Business Development and Fundraising Manager at Libraries Unlimited said;

“The initial conversations started with Exeter College around how we could do some more community-led learning. Starting off with pop-up maths events at Exeter Library, St Thomas and Pinhoe – we began to discuss how community learning could go wider afield.

“We were talking about the ULA and how libraries have evolved. The notion that libraries are just about books is behind us, they are community hubs. They are an intrinsic part of the local community; offering a range of activities from Bounce and Rhyme, to Knit and Natter groups, dementia awareness, and mindfulness cafes, not to mention co working spaces and IT sessions.

“We are really excited to be part of the ULA, particularly as we aim to reach new communities across the city and showing them that this is a warm, safe, free space to be used. Especially with the cost-of-living crisis, just opening our doors and making people aware that libraries are there and that they’re freely available across the county is essential.”

To find out more about the Urban Learning Academy and how you can get involved visit Urban Learning Academy

Transforming community life in Exeter through learning

Exeter College Community Learning is delighted to announce a new partnership with CoLab and Exeter City Council. Partners are collaborating to provide opportunities for adults to participate in free and low-cost learning across the city through an initiative called the Urban Learning Academy.

The Urban Learning Academy is a venture exploring innovative approaches toward city-wide inclusive adult learning opportunities. The project was kickstarted by multi agency well-being hub CoLab funded through the National Lottery. It offers a range of sessions taking place in community hubs across the city, rather than a traditional bricks and mortar building,

Maddy Hearn, Adult Community and Partnership Lead at Exeter College, said;

“The Urban Learning Academy is an amazing new learning initiative for the city. Together with educators, and through listening to learners’ hopes and aspirations we are building an innovative programme of free to access learning that is open to all and delivered in accessible, community locations.”

Following a successful summer pilot programme, Exeter College Community Learning has designed a new programme of courses to take place in community locations including Exeter libraries over the winter months. Courses enable people to connect, build skills and improve wellbeing. Adults are encouraged to take part in learning programmes exploring creativity, employability, and numeracy.

Exeter College Creative Writing Tutor Sam Watson, who facilitated Writing at the Museum, a Creative Writing course taking place at RAMM (Royal Albert Memorial Museum) said;

“It is so nice to be able to meet with learners in such creative and inspiring locations. We took full advantage of the space and exhibits available at the Museum, and we wrote some beautiful pieces.”

The Winter Programme aims to offer free of charge, meaningful learning opportunities produced in collaboration with partners, to help shape curriculum and add value for learners. As well as feeling more connected, healthier, and happier, participants will be empowered to build confidence in areas such as writing, everyday maths, self-care, and employability skills.

Learners form close communities through their classes; Catriona, who took a poetry class at Exeter Library, said;

“It was so lovely hearing everyone talking about the poetry they like and great to hear them read their own words.” Catriona described being immensely proud of one of her fellow learners, she said; “They are so honest and so brave when facing challenges.”

Through experimentation, collaboration and a shared vision, the work has created a lively learning community and opened accessible pathways to connect and transform communities through new and innovative learning opportunities. Exeter is a learning city and Urban Learning Academy is providing equity of access in the heart of the city.

Find out more by emailing info@urbanlearningacademy.org.uk.

News round up: Exeter College supporting the community during the lockdown

Over the last few months, we, as a college, community, and a nation, have experienced a lot of firsts. We’re proud to have stepped up to help, supporting people through these difficult times. Here’s our round up of the most popular stories on our website since the lockdown began. 

WE MOVED TO HOME AND ONLINE LEARNING 

Following the advice from Public Health England, the Government and the NHS, Exeter College sites closed for the majority of learners.

Although the Exeter College site closed, learning never stopped. Thanks to our expert staff, students’ exceptional education continued remotely. 

In a bid to offer further support, we provided our top tips on how to study at home, a guide on how to set up work and learning areas and our Health and wellbeing expert shared his advice on how to look after yourself during the lockdown. 

Find out more about our move to remote learning.

WE OFFERED ACCOMMODATION TO NHS WORKERS

Exeter College has opened the doors of its Clock Tower accommodation to NHS workers in need of a place to stay during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.  

“Staff at Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital are working incredibly hard to save lives on the front line. As a community organisation, we felt it’s only right that we offer everything we can to help them and the NHS,”
– Kristyn Woodward, Exeter College Director of Student Experience.

Find out more.  

**WE LAUNCHED FLYING START FOR STUDENTS JOINING US IN SEPTEMBER**

We knew lots of students were keen to get a head start on their College subjects before joining us. So, we developed Flying Start; our suite of pre-enrolment learning content, getting students to think about their new subjects with us. 

“Flying Start provides some small introductory pieces of work, as well as some suggested background reading on subjects,”
– Jade Otty, Exeter College Vice Principal.

Access our Flying Start pre-enrolment work. 

Find out more about Flying Start. 

WE JOINED FORCES WITH PPE4EXETER

In Partnership with PPE4Exeter, a grassroots community project, Exeter College supported the production and distribution of Personal Protective Equipment for community-bases health and care workers.

We have helped PPE4Exeter provide local centres with safety glasses, face masks, gloves and face shields.

Find out more about our partnership with PPE4Exeter. 

WE LINKED UP WITH FOOD4HEROES TO PROVIDE MEALS TO NHS STAFF

We offered our state-of-the-art industrial kitchen facilities to Food4Heroes; a charity that provides free nutritious meals to frontline NHS staff during the Coronavirus pandemic.  

Exeter College’s @34 training kitchens are now in use, providing 200 nutritionally balanced, free meals to NHS staff at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital daily. 

Find out more. 

WE CAUGHT UP WITH OUR STUDENTS

We shared how our students were getting on with their remote learning.

“Despite all the uncertainty with the current situation, the transition to home learning has been smooth. It has been good to have some continuity and a reason to force some structure into what could be empty days,”
– Tom Matthew, FE Student Governor.

We also got in touch with Madeline Crow, an Exeter College student who ended her studies early to join the NHS front line staff in the fight against coronavirus.

Find out more about how our students have found remote learning.

WE MOVED OUR OPEN EVENTS ONLINE

We wanted to offer people the chance to discover everything our Ofsted Outstanding further education provider has to offer, from the comfort of their own home.

With our Apprenticeship Online Open Event and our Online Showcase being a success, we will soon be rolling out our Adult Online Open Event for anyone who wants to learn a new skill or further their career.

Applications are open now to study at Ofsted Outstanding Exeter College in September 2020.

PPE4Exeter Campaign Raises over £3000 of £26,000 target in first weekend

A grassroots community project has raised an incredible £3000 in aid of their production of vital Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for community-based health and care workers in their first weekend. They are hoping to continue raising around £1000 a day to keep up with the demand for face shields in the local community.

The PPE4Exeter project was launched last week to raise money for the materials needed to produce face shields for use by vital community services during the Coronavirus crisis. To date, they have distributed over 1200 face shields to a variety of staff working on the frontline.

PPE4Exeter is an agile network of local creatives, engineers, technologists and business innovators who are working together to make and distribute face shields to those who need them most on the front line within the community.

Fronted by Fiona Rourke from Exeter College’s School of Art and Design, PPE4Exeter has teamed up with Andy Wells and Gareth Lambert from the Department for Engineering, Aerospace and Automotive who have also been producing PPE for healthcare settings. They are using their combined expertise to fill the sizable gap in the market occupied by small to mid-range charities and organisations who cannot bid for large deliveries of PPE independently.

Working with 3D printing, laser cutting and injection moulding technologies, the group is currently Crowdfunding to keep the vital supply of materials going. As little as £5 is enough to create and distribute one reusable face shield, protecting a valuable community keyworker.

Alongside Exeter College, the team is partnered with Kaleider, University of Exeter, FabLab Devon (Libraries Unlimited), RD&E Innovation Team, Exclusive3D and Preston Street Films to help deliver a target of a further 5000 face shields to the local community in the next 4 weeks.

Exeter College’s effort is widespread. It has already supported the distribution of PPE to local centres, with over 800 lots of safety glasses, facemasks and gloves making their way to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital this month. This was following the announcement that the College is offering accommodation to NHS workers in their Clock Tower boarding house for the duration of this crisis.

Find out more about PPE4Exeter.

Donate now to their Crowdfunder.