The WEA has been awarded half a million pounds, the maximum grant available, from the Big Lottery Fund family learning programme. The award is for a two year project which will start in spring 2008 and means that 1,000 parents and children will be able to learn together in fun activities and courses.

In the first year, the project will run in four WEA Regions with courses and activities planned for Scarborough, Barnsley, Slough, Great Yarmouth and Plymouth. Further areas will be added in the project’s second year.

To help the WEA prepare a Big Lottery Fund bid for the project, more than 250 mums and dads took part in a research programme to identify what parents and children want to learn about, as well as how they like to learn.

WEA work on the bid took over six months, including a needs analysis with parents. The bid has lead to the development of twenty three partnership agreements with other local organisations who will be working with the WEA to deliver the educational programme.

Parents and children can look forward to a range of activities including picnics in Slough to bring communities together with healthy food and games, 'beach school' activities in Great Yarmouth, and high tech activities, such as robot building, in Barnsley to attract more dads.

The project builds on existing WEA partnerships such as those with schools and local Sure Starts across the country. Other local partners include Slough’s Family and Pakistani Welfare Associations, the Eastfield NSPCC in Scarborough, Barnsley’s Thurnscoe Embankment Children’s Centre, the Great Yarmouth Community Trust and in Plymouth, the WON Children and Family Centre and Keyham Green Places Centre.

Representatives from key national organisations have agreed to join the national project steering group including John Gibson from the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), and Penny Lamb, NIACE Family Learning Development Officer.

The project will also develop teaching and learning resources which will be made available online.

Mary Curran, project manager for the WEA, said “This lottery funding means we can employ development workers and try out innovative family learning activities to engage the hardest to reach families, which is difficult to do through mainstream funding. We know this makes a real difference to people’s lives”.

One Barnsley parent said of the project, “It opens a world of opportunity coming to these types of courses”.

Further information on the project is available from Mary Curran: mcurran@wea.org.uk.