Welcome to the Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Education and Training Programme for 2018. It is our priority to have diverse and suitable courses to meet all the needs of both activists and members. This year we have endeavored to have courses as widely accessible as possible by offering access across the region, and making more use of the TUC both in the classroom and online. We are supporting new venues this year from Hull to Sheffield as well as delivering more at the Regional HQ in Leeds; we will also continue to use Northern College in Barnsley.
You can find the 2018 Education Programme here...
The Tory cuts have been deeply affecting not only Trade Union education, but all adult further education, which makes our Lifelong Learning approach even more important for our members, potential members, and activists. In addition to our Regional Education Team, our Organisers will continue working with branches, alongside the other organising duties they undertake, to develop Lifelong Learning and ensure activists are trained to the highest up-to-date standards. Learning and training are now firmly embedded within all branches development and future plans.
The programme is designed to increase access to the most up to date training UNISON can offer, both for new and developing existing activists. The courses provided are directly aimed at building confidence and developing skills and abilities. We are sure that both you and UNISON will benefit from the experience. It is never too late to learn.
Branch development is vital in recruiting, organising and retaining members. We are constantly striving to increase membership and provide a better service. Increasing membership and developing new activists from all sectors of the union will make us stronger and more representative of our members.
Unfortunately, due to Tory Government continued cuts, there have been significant reductions in general further education funding and TUC funding has also been drastically cut. As a result of effective lobbying by the TUC, the previous Coalition government’s intention to remove fee remission was postponed to August 2016, thus enabling the region to keep charges to branches down to a minimum.
No member should be out of pocket attending UNISON courses. Branches and the Region will continue to contribute to ensure this, and ensure access is freely available to as many members/activists as possible. Any additional travel costs or carer costs can be claimed from your branch, but you do need to speak to your branch and get their agreement in advance (details of help can be found within this programme).
For clarity, we also offer a separate members only training programme detailing some of the courses/workshops UNISON offers for non activist members. You can obtain a copy of this from your Branch Education Co-ordinator or Branch Secretary. You can always find it on our website at www.unison-yorks.org.uk/education.html.
We pride ourselves on offering a very friendly, relaxed and supportive learning environment, and providing opportunities to meet new people, make new friends, and build networks with other branches and activist learners to build on knowledge and skills. Working together with other trade unionists to achieve common goals is at the fundamental core of our organisation and we offer many opportunities for development.
So please access and enjoy our learning offer and don’t be afraid to provide both positive and negative feedback as we are always striving to improve your learning experience and all feedback is carefully considered and used to improve our delivery.
This year we are offering much more content online, with short workshops with the TUC fully online and integrated courses using webinars and e-Notes. I hope you will participate and enjoy what we have to offer and I firmly believe UNISON has the best trained activists of any union in the UK.
Wendy Nichols
Regional Convenor
You can find the 2018 Education Programme here...