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Summary of Final Closure Report to AWM for the Excellence in the Community Project

This project, with the help of ebns and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, has established 14 Community Learning Centres in local primary schools. Thirteen of these are managed by schools and the other is managed by a nursery provider.

The main aim of the project is to get people who do not have any qualifications into learning. This works by providing a good contact point for parents/grandparents through crèche provision. The project also aims to get more people into sustainable rewarding jobs and self-employment. The project also aims to enable more people to get the confidence to set up social enterprises or take part in voluntary activity.



584 local people have benefited from courses at the centres. There is a range and mix of learning opportunities on offer, with an emphasis on getting people with a little/poor experience of formal education on to the 'first rung' of learning. The centres are family-friendly and provide a quality learning environment.

The centres are an integral part of the strategy to regenerate North Solihull. Arrangements to sustain through the transformation of the area and assurances have been given than the centres will continue when schools are rebuilt.

Two key factors that led to the development of the project were the perceived lack of quality learning facilities in North Solihull and the relatively high proportion of adults without formal qualifications and not engaged in learning.
 
The centres form part of the school and community infrastructure. The voluntary and community sector is taking an increasingly active role using the centres, building up relationships with local schools.