Contents
Adult Learners' Week: 20 - 26 May
22 Festivals all round Wales
Adult Learners' Week news update
Adult Learners' Week Focus days including Learning @ Work Day
View the TV commercials
580,000 Regional guides and supplements to reach over 1 million readers
Order your free posters
Inspire Awards: 18 May
How evaluation could win your organisation a £1,000 grant

Adult Learners' Week starts next week
20 - 26 May

Adult Learners' Week is almost upon us. From Saturday thousands of people all over Wales will be taking part in our national learning festival. So are you ready to make the most of this week-long celebration of learning? Adult Learners' Week is one of the most popular initiatives in the learning calendar. Last year over 14,000 people took part - in just one week - and this year we aim to get even more new learners on board. In less than 5 days time, over 850 'have a go' learning events will be taking place, from Anglesey to Aberdare, from Newport to Newtown. So wherever you are, there really will be something happening... just around the corner! Be part of the success.

Don't miss out! Get your event listed!
This is another great opportunity for you to market your organisation free of charge. If you haven't already notified the NIACE team of your event, then make sure you do so right away. Call Steve Johnson on 029 2037 0900 or email him at steve@niacedc.org.uk today! You can also put your event on our website listing. Remember that learndirect will also be sign posting learners using the online calendar, so don't miss out!

National awareness set to peak
Once again we are backing the campaign with a national promotion, including TV commercials, regional guides and free merchandising for our providers. During Adult Learners' Week, awareness and interest in learning reaches a peak, so make sure you maximise the opportunity for your organisation. Is everything in place for your event? Have you displayed your posters? Are you ready for one of the most exciting adult learning weeks of the year?

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22 festivals all round Wales
A big thank you for your support!

The response from our partners has always been fantastic, but this year has been better than ever. No less than 22 festivals have been organised as part of Adult Learners' Week and once again we have so many people to thank for their on going commitment and support. We have been delighted at just how many of our partners have organised festivals on their own patch. We really do appreciate that these take a great deal of time to bring together but we are convinced that all the organisers will be rewarded for their efforts with lively, colourful, vibrant well attended events. Without the help and input from our partners, we would not have been able to make Adult Learners' Week so successful. On behalf of the many thousands upon thousands of people who have been given the chance to take their first steps back into learning and have discovered how enriching learning can be... a big, big thank you!

Promoting Your Events
Don't forget to get in touch with your local radio or newspaper contact - ask them to list your event in their round up of "What's On". Many media contacts will do this free of charge. You can download tips on writing press releases and a downloadable press release for Adult Learners' Week from the Adult Learners' Week website - all you have to do is insert the event details!

Here's a flavour of the fun in store for just two of the festivals. We think you'll agree that they capture the spirit of Adult Learners' Week.

World cup learning goal for Neath Port Talbot learning festival
This year's FREE Neath Port Talbot Learning Festival will be more than a match for anyone as it has one of the world's biggest events - the forthcoming football World Cup - as its theme, and the added prize of a day with Swansea City FC or the Ospreys Rugby Club at stake. The event takes place on Wednesday 24th May, from 2pm - 7pm at Llandarcy Academy of Sport, Llandarcy.

The festival is a fun, informal way for adults to develop their reading, writing and arithmetic skills through the ever-popular subject of football and the World Cup in Germany, this June.

Among the free events on offer will be:

• Working out the odds on England's chances of getting to the final
   
• How to say “get your eyes tested Referee!” in five different languages
   
• Trying out Des Lynam's job for a day by practising sports commentary skills with a local radio presenter
   
• Working with a creative writer to produce football anthems and football chants
   
• Learning about a typical footballer's diet, fitness and healthy living programme
   
• Information on sport related courses and job opportunities such as coaching and physiotherapy

To win the prize 'players' will take part in a penalty shoot out, play online football games and earn extra 'goals' by attending the free taster sessions. The two finalists will spend a day with the sports team of their choice. 96.4FM The Wave will be broadcasting live from the event and many sports celebrities will be dropping by throughout the afternoon.

Attracting young men to learning
Festival organiser Cheryl Nesbitt said: “The Festival promises to be a fun and attractive way to show how learning can affect everything we do in life - from jobs to passions and pastimes. Getting adults, and especially young men interested in the idea of learning, is not always easy, so we need to be imaginative and show how we can improve skills to make life easier and more enjoyable.”

All events will be free; also provided will be free refreshments, free transport and 'goodie' bags of men's grooming products - a must-have for today's international footballer!

And as well as being entertaining, adult guidance workers will be there to provide additional information on educational opportunities, funding and career choices and pathways to further learning.

Those interested in coming along should pre-register on 01639 891935 or online at www.thewave.co.uk or www.learningpool.org

Montgomeryshire festival invites you to try something new
Montgomeryshire Learning Festival has a range of activities lined up in venues in Welshpool and Machynlleth, including a multi-cultural day where you can try exotic foods and learn a little Polish, a day of health therapies, ways of relieving stress, and computer skills for the increasing numbers of Silver Surfers.

Festival organiser Sheila Hughes said: “The festival promises to be a fun and attractive way to show how learning can affect everything we do in life - from jobs to passions and pastimes. Learning needs to be attractive to local people, so we want to entice them to try something new which might lead on a learning path in future.”

The programme includes:

Cultural Diversity Day - Getting to Know You
Welshpool Town Hall 10am-3.00pm Saturday 20 May
Multi cultural day with free taster sessions in dance, music, food, complementary therapies, eastern European language tasters, ESOL, art and craft tasters and more. Information stands and displays from local training providers and voluntary organizations.

Montgomeryshire Learning Festival (Machynlleth)
Machynlleth Community Center, Maengwyn Street, Machynlleth 10am-3pm Tuesday 23 May
A Day of Action for Learners with bite-size learning opportunities and information stands from Coleg Harlech WEA, Powys County Council Lifelong Learning Department, Careers Wales, Powys Training, Eco Dyfi, Communities First and many more.

Health Focus Open day
Canal Yard, Welshpool Wednesday 24 May
Free talks/Workshops by qualified therapists on chiropody, reflexology, aromatherapy, massage, hypnotherapy and much more

Learning at Work Day
Council offices, Welshpool 10-4.30pm Thursday 25 May
Stress management and basic skills for the workforce. Stress management through complementary therapies and basic skills workshops in report writing.

Silver Surfers Day
Powys Training, Welshpool Friday 24 May
Free drop-in computer sessions

For more information please contact Sheela Hughes on 01691 648044 sheelah@powys.gov.uk

Want to be part of the festivals?
To get involved, or for more information, contact the festival organisers

We have listed the many festivals taking place below. If you would like to offer your support in any way or have any ideas which could help the organisers then please do get in touch.

Location

Main Contact

Email

Flintshire

Diane Martin

martind@deeside.ac.uk

Anglesey

Arnold Milburn

amxed@anglesey.gov.uk

Bridgend

Jan Morgan

morgajl@bridgend.gov.uk

Merthyr

Jen Connolly

jen.connolly@merthyr.gov.uk

Blaenau Gwent

Kathy Smith

byron.jones@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk

Caerphilly

June Davies

daviej6@caerphilly.gov.uk

Torfaen

Tracy Breadmore- Lammas

tracy.breadmore-lammas@newport.ac.uk

Vale of Glamorgan

David Giles

d.giles@barry.ac.uk

Cardiff

Celia Ashdown

Cashdown@cardiff.gov.uk

RCT

Lynette El Khatib

lynette.el-khatib@rhondda-cynon-taff.gov.uk

Pembrokeshire

Lesley Clarke

l.clarke@careerswaleswest.co.uk

Swansea

Alison Jenner

alison.jenner@swansea.gov.uk

Gwynedd

Alun Williams

AlunHughesWilliams@gwynedd.gov.uk

Neath Port Talbot

Cheryl Nesbitt

c.nesbitt@neath-porttalbot.gov.uk

Ceredigion

Sian Johnston

sjohnston@anturteifi.org.uk

Carmarthenshire

Alyson Jenkins

aljenkins@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Monmouthshire

Fran Harding

franharding@monmouthshire.gov.uk

Montgomeryshire

Sheela Hughes

sheelah@powys.gov.uk

Denbighshire

Julia Hughes

j.hughes@llandrillo.ac.uk

Conwy

Jane Williams

jane.williams@conwy.gov.uk

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Adult Learners' Week news update
Educating Rita says 'Try your hand at something new'

Welsh comedy actress Ruth Jones, playing the lead role in Educating Rita in Cardiff next month, is backing Adult Learners' Week.

Ruth, who is a household name through her roles as Myfanwy in Little Britain and Linda in Nighty Night, is taking to the Sherman Theatre stage with another well known TV actor Steve Speirs (a Doctor Who baddie). Her character (played in the film by Julie Walters) is the most famous example of the benefits of adult learning, and comes from playwrite Willy Russell's own personal experiences as a former hairdresser.

Inspirational story
NIACE DC's Director Rob Humphreys said: “Educating Rita is an inspirational story of what can be achieved and experienced through returning to learning. It's great to have an accomplished comedy actress like Ruth involved in the campaign in our 21st year when we are looking for a record number of adults to try their hand at something new, and recognising those who are an inspiration to adult learners everywhere.”

Playwrite Willy Russell launched a previous Adult Learners' Week saying: “School taught me and thousands like me that we were hopeless, incapable and second rate. Later I was to realise that I wanted to do what I'd never wanted to do in school - I wanted to learn, wanted to know more and more, and around me there were people who encouraged me to do just that.”

Educating Rita runs at the Sherman Theatre from June 1 until June 17. For details: 029 2064 6900 or boxoffice@shermantheatre.co.uk

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Focus days during Adult Learners' Week
Cultural Diversity Day: Saturday 20 May

Britain has benefited from ethnic diversity throughout its history. From industry and commerce to art and dance, from sport and music to science and literature, the activities of individuals and groups from ethnic minorities have enriched life in Britain for all. (For more information see the Commission for Racial Equality website.)

Cultural Diversity Day was introduced in 2002 to start addressing some elements of the equality and diversity agendas. It has since become integrated into Adult Learners' Week and enriched and enhanced the festival of learning.

This year Cultural Diversity Day takes place on 20 May.

With the support of our Providers, we will:

• Raise awareness and understanding between different cultures
• Celebrate the similarities and differences between cultures
• Encourage community cohesion
• Support and promote activities and events celebrating diversity
• Raise policy makers' awareness of concerns and issues around barriers to learning

"Cultural diversity provides an opportunity for everyone to come together and share ideas and good practice. So much good practice in the field of challenging racism and promoting cultural diversity through adult education goes unnoticed. Cultural Diversity Day provides an opportunity for you to showcase what you are doing in this area and for other providers to learn from your experiences. It also provides an opportunity for you to encourage learners from minority groups to take advantage of your services."
Lenford White, Development Officer, NIACE.

Learning @ Work Day: Thursday 25 May

What is Learning @ Work Day?
This is a dedicated day which provides employers and employees the opportunity to learn something new.

During the day employers are encouraged to provide staff with the opportunity to learn something new, this can be through a series of taster sessions, workshops or even job swap's - really whatever is appropriate to your organisation and its goals!

The objective of the day is to demonstrate to both employers and employees how worthwhile learning can for general morale, resulting in better business practice.

How do organisations get involved?
The great thing about Learning @ Work Day is that organisations decide on the size of their event. Successful events in the past have ranged from placing information about Adult Learning in payslips to a team building circus skills class.

Organisations can make a day of it by holding team building exercises, job swap and specific training opportunities, merely advertise the day and training options to staff or have voluntary activities during the lunch hour - everything they do to promote Learning @ Work Day is a positive!

Whatever they would like to achieve from Learning @ Work Day, we guide and advise, helping them to enjoy the day and achieve their goals.

What are there PR opportunities?
We have arranged media coverage of the day. With this in mind, the press will be informed of all activity undertaken by participating companies; they will then cover appropriate stories.

What is happening for Learning @ Work Day 2006?
A number of Welsh businesses have already signed up to take part in Learning at Work Day. The events that are taking place are all different, but all provide a platform for staff to appreciate the value of learning.

• Legal and General have prepared a day filled with events relating to helping staff stay healthy through organised yoga, Tai Chi and Indian head massage classes and discussions lead by Fitness First and Heart Start.
   
• HSBC in conjunction with Brecon Jazz Festival, have organised a Jazz workshop at the Sherman theatre. All staff, whatever their musical ability, have been invited to take part and the day will culminate in a group performance. For more information, see this press release.
   
• Admiral are utilising the day to encourage staff to enjoy the learning experience both at home and in the office. To achieve this, the company are providing staff with a series of taster sessions to demonstrate how interesting and rewarding improving their skills could be. Amongst the sessions on offer will be subjects such as foreign languages, tai chi, first aid and sign language.

Working with Fusion to help organise the day
This year, Louise Edwards and Nia Williams of Fusion UK have been helping us plan Learning @ Work Day. If you want more information on how to get involved, please contact Louise at louise@fusionuk.org.uk.

Free Learning @ Work Day information pack

It's not too late to plan your own Learning @ Work Day event. To help, we have compiled a free information pack. The pack also includes a free poster to help you promote your event in style!

You can contact Louise at louise@fusionuk.org.uk for your copies, or download PDFs by clicking the links below. You can also visit www.learningatworkday.com for ideas and promotional materials.

Folder English
Folder Welsh

Leaflet English
Leaflet Welsh

Poster English
Poster Welsh

Silver Surfers Day: Friday 26 May

For more details and to receive an e-magazine please visit www.silversurfersday.org

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Nationwide TV campaign about to hit the screen

Once again, news of Adult Learners' Week will be broadcast to the nation in the form of our 60 second TV commercials. The commercials will appear on S4C and ITV Wales the week before, and during, Adult Learners' Week. The real-life learners who starred in January's Taking Control commercials are featuring again in this campaign. But this time we have introduced a new face of learning for Adult Learners' Week.

S4C Star, Rhodri Davies, set to be the face of Adult Learners' Week
To ring the changes and to introduce Adult Learners' Week, we have invited S4C star Rhodri Davies to appear in our commercials. Rhodri was filmed on the set of Wedi, S4C's popular magazine programme.

Have a look at the commercials
The commercials started on 12 May, but if you can't wait for them to ome on TV you can view theme here. Simply click on the name below for the commercial you wish to watch.

Davey - Welsh English

Emma

Nigel

Vanessa

Can't play the ads?
If you haven't got broadband or would prefer to read the scripts, then click the learner's name below.
Davey  Emma  Nigel  Vanessa  

Check out the TV spot times
If you would like to catch our commercials on ITV 1 Wales or S4C, you can see the spot times in detail. Please note that this schedule is subject to change. The stations amend the schedule on a daily basis to ensure we hit our targeted audience figures. It will, however, give you a good idea of when our commercials are likely to be on the box.

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Driving the message home
A national campaign of regional guides

Once again we are distributing over 580,000 regional guides to homes all over Wales. The guides are being inserted in the nation's local and free press in the week prior to Adult Learners' Week.

Marketing your event in our regional guides

These colourful guides, with their extensive listing of events and bite-size courses, help us to illustrate to the scale of Adult Learners' Week and offer providers and partner organisations the opportunity to promote their event to local learners in their area.

PDFs of all four guides are available to download below.

Mid Wales English
Mid Wales Welsh

North Wales English
North Wales Welsh

South Wales English
South Wales Welsh

West Wales English
West Wales Welsh

Check out the campaign schedule for the guide in your area
Where can you find a guide covering your area? Simple, take a look at the schedule below, it lists all the guides and where they appear.

Plus supplements to reach over one million readers
In addition to the regional guides, we have also teamed up with the newspapers all over Wales to produce a series of Adult Learners' Week supplements. Featuring inspiring stories of learners who have achieved so much thanks to learning, these supplements will be regionalised to make them especially relevant to readers, no matter where they live.

Below is a table outlining the schedule, so you know where and when to look out for a copy of the guide covering your area.

Publication

Publication date

Readership

Celtic Newspapers

w/c 15 May

284,895

The South Wales Argus

18 May

89,359

South Wales Echo

17 May

86,000

Western Mail

18 May

86,000

The Evening Post

19 May

168,322

Western Telegraph

17 May

70,000

Tenby Observer

19 May

32,000

Daily Post

18 May

122,000

Y Cymro

19 May

11,500

Golwg

18 May

15,000

North Wales Chronicle

18 May

56,351

North Wales Pioneer

18 May

38,094

Rhyl Journal

18 May

34,000

Flintshire Leader

18 May

41,394

County Times

19 May

45,000

Total

1,179,915

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Free posters to promote your event
If you haven't ordered your copies, it's not too late!

If you have got involved on the ground and have helped us to promote Adult Learners' Week by organising events and displaying our posters, we really appreciate your support.

It's not too late to order your posters
Many learners will make up their minds to attend an event right at the last minute, so it's not too late to influence their decision by promoting your event. If you haven't yet received any posters, it's not too late to order your copies and get them displayed.

Need more posters? Order now!
Don't forget that we will be delighted to send you more posters if you need to replenish your stock. Remember: All posters are completely free. So if yours are looking a bit tired, just order some more!

This year's Adult Learners' Week campaign brings with it our most visually striking set of promotional posters yet. Each poster shows a pair of hands taking part in an activity, with the tagline 'Try your hand at something new'. We think you'll find them extremely effective for promoting your short courses and taster sessions throughout Adult Learners' Week.

For more information on ordering you free posters, see our free posters page.

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Inspire Awards
An unforgettable night of celebration

The Inspire Awards kick off Adult Learners' Week in style and are a wonderful celebration of the achievements of some of most inspiring learners. With 16 categories, the Awards cover a wide range of learning experiences and give us all the opportunity to pay tribute to those who have overcome huge barriers to change their lives through learning. Those of you who have attended previous Adult Learners' Awards Ceremonies can testify to the power of winners' stories and the huge pleasure gained by winners and their families.

And this year is going to be no exception. Once again, the award judges were astounded by the quality of the entries and the stories of learning triumph over adversity.

The glitzy awards ceremony takes place on 18 May at The Coal Exchange, Cardiff Bay and it's bound to be an unforgettable night for all the winners.

In our next eZine, we'll feature all the winners and give you a quick insight into their lives and the qualities that have made them all winners.

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Evaluation is essential
Without evaluation, we cannot secure future funding

We need your help to prove the success of Adult Learners' Week
Evaluation is the life-blood for all our campaigns. Without comprehensive monitoring and hard facts and figures, we cannot prove that campaigns like Adult Learners' Week are successful and that makes it extremely difficult to secure funding and ongoing public and political support.

Don't forget your learners can win £200!
The introduction of our free prize draw has been very successful in attracting learners to previous events and has enhanced the information compiled as part of our essential evaluation process.

The Consent Form Cheque includes all the usual questions we ask learners in order to gather the information we require to assess the effectiveness of our campaigns. But with an extra financial carrot!!!

To encourage your learners to fill in the Consent Form Cheque, there is also the chance to win £200! So get as many forms as you can filled in and sent back to us!

There could be £1,000 in it for you, as well
Get your forms to us by June 30th 2006 and you could be awarded a £1,000 Learning Promotion Grant

If you are the Provider who sends us the most Consent Form Cheques by 30 June you will be awarded a Learning Promotion Grant worth £1,000 to be used during the forthcoming 'Sign Up Season' Campaign this August and September.

So it really is worth your while to get them back to us ASAP.

We will also be commissioning a telephone survey to find out who went along to the events during Adult Learners' Week and what they did as a result!

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Interested Colleague?
Send us their email address and we’ll get a copy sent to them.
  

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Adult Learners’ Week, Sign Up Season and Taking Control are funded by The European Social Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government, and co-ordinated by NIACE Dysgu Cymru.

NIACE Dysgu Cymru is a membership organisation, run by an elected management group, representing all sectors bonded by a common focus on adult learners. A wide range of work is undertaken; advocacy, research and development, influencing policy, conferences, publications and staff development. For further information, visit our website.