A FREE Festival of Learning in Salisbury will offer adults the chance to change their lives with the help of Wiltshire College & University Centre.
The college’s Salisbury campus will be throwing open its doors to tell people more about its huge range of part-time courses on offer on Saturday, March 1.
Lisa Cuffy, the college’s Adult Learning and Commercial Development Manager, said she wants more people to know about the wide range of subjects it teaches to help people learn new skills and interests or progress at work.
“There’s so much going on here, we have a wonderful new campus and a range of courses from art to languages, floristry, photography or motor mechanics to music.
“What people don’t realise is that the government has recently changed the rules about funding for adult learning and now if you are earning less than £25,000 you may be entitled to study for free.”
She said the festival is a response to the fear adults often have about coming into a college, even if they have studied there previously. “We decided to hold it on a Saturday because one of the biggest challenges we have in adult learning is that adults can lose their confidence, and walking into a big college full of 16 to 19 year olds can feel quite intimidating for them.
“We want to help them to recognise that the college is here for the whole community and they are welcome here.”
The festival will have a creche and activities for children so parents have time to look at courses, try some fun activities and talk to staff about what they want to learn.
There will also be a chance to see the college’s new Healthcare Zone, complete with its own ambulance and a ward that is a replica of those at Salisbury District Hospital, where individuals as well as companies can learn first aid and a range of other healthcare subjects.
“It’s really impressive because you don’t realise you’re actually in a college,” said Ms Cuffy.
She said there are a variety of reasons people sign up for adult learning courses. “We get a lot of people who study to get a better job or promotion, for instance on our accountancy courses,” she said.
“But many just want to develop an interest, and a by-product of that is meeting new people who enjoy the same thing. It’s amazing how quickly people on a course will set up a WhatsApp group, they build good friendships and keep in touch after the course.”
She said many people come to study to help boost their mental health. “We see a lot of that, certainly around floristry and some of our art courses,” she said. “It is great for your wellbeing to come and focus on a creative activity alongside others.
“We run a course on the art of wellbeing and also one on the art of maths, using maths within art.”
One new course has been launched as a result of a Facebook appeal for people to tell the college what they’d like to learn. “We are running a course called The Art of Saying No because of demand,” said Ms Cuffy.
“It will be for people who may be feeling overwhelmed in their work or personal life and feeling compelled to hold everything together. The course will be about understanding your priorities, knowing how to say no and coming back to it later.
“At the festival visitors can talk to us about what they want to study and even if we don’t currently offer it they can register an interest so if we get enough demand we can launch it.”
The college supports all of its adult learners with careers advice and guidance as well as offering support with mobility issues, disabilities including dyslexia and hearing difficulties, and physical and medical conditions. For more information about the festival, visit here.
