Welcome

to Issue 13 of the DP-EVH bulletin providing information about our organisation, courses, events and activities.

Annual General Meeting

Our Annual General Meeting took place on Friday 2nd July 2010 at Dewsbury Minster.

Various members of the Committee were up for re-election including our Chair Janice Henderson who decided to resign from the Committee completely after 8 years of sterling service, first as a member then Vice-Chair and then Chair.

The newly elected Chair is former Vice-Chair Stephen Watson and our new Vice-Chair is Dr Mike Plumb. To see the newly elected committee in full follow this link – Committee.

A Grand Day Out

The Fundraising Committee organised a trip to Bridlington for Staff and Volunteers from The DP-EVH plus partners and friends on Saturday 31st July.

The wheelchair accessible transport provided by star coaches, set of from The DP-EVH at 9:00 am and arrived in Bridlington around 11:00 am giving the day trippers a good 6 hours to enjoy themselves before returning to the coach at 5:00 pm.

The weather stayed fine as people spilt off in groups or alone to do their own thing whether sightseeing, shopping, socialising or just taking in the sea air. Maria was on a mission encouraging Karen and Leslie to buy shoes while indulging herself. Karen and Maria ended up with 2 pairs each and Leslie with 1, what are they like lol.

Day tripping in Bridlington

Everyone had a great time and all agreed it had been an enjoyable day (apart from the dodgy music on the coach lol).

A big thanks goes to the Fundraising Committee from everyone who went on the trip and Karen Wilkinson our Centre Manager would personally like to thank John Walker, Nigel Kimberlin and John Ramsden for organising the trip.

see more images from the trip

PTLLS for Volunteers

The PTLLS course is provided by The DP-EVH as an introduction for those who wish to train or support learners.

The five topics that are covered within the PTLLS course, include Understand your own role, responsibilities and boundaries of your role in relation to teaching, Demonstrate session planning skills, and Understand the use of different assessment methods and the need for record keeping.

To achieve the PTLLS qualification, candidates must successfully complete both the theory and practice assignments which cover all five sections.

The PTLLS course is aimed at those who work, or want to work, as teachers, trainers and/or tutors in the Lifelong Learning Sector, and/or Adult or Community education, or as trainers of staff in retail, industry, public and voluntary sectors or the Army, or as support staff in education environments.

Attendance will be for 3.5 hours per week for 12 weeks and will also include literacy support to help with writing of assignments. You would be expected to do approximately 2 hours homework per week so commitment is required from anyone wishing to take up this course.

If you are a volunteer at The DP-EVH and wish to take this course please speak to Melanie or Karen to discuss the entry requirements and progression options. The course will start in September 2010.

Two members of staff recently took the PTLLS course at The DP-EVH here's what they had to say.

Karen Reynolds

My name is Karen Reynolds; I started as a student at The DP-EVH back in 2007.

I was approached by the Centre Manager Karen Wilkinson who asked me if I would like to enrol on a level 3/4 PTLLS course, Preparing to Teach in Lifelong Learning Sector. The course lasted 10 weeks.

Since completing the course I have been given the chance to teach several groups of learners in basic ICT courses and this has helped me grow in confidence and join in with other tutors to deliver learning groups. I also get a great deal of satisfaction in the work I now do.

Melanie Booth

The PTTLS course gave a quick synopsis of a P.G.C.E. course.

I have used the understanding from the PTLLS course in my IAG work. Now I can discuss needs and describe the teaching and learning styles involved with our courses.

I also use this knowledge to report and explain our teaching and learning methods to our funders. So for me this was a really worthwhile course and qualification.

What’s New?

Employability Workshop

From September 2010 we will be holding a job workshop on a weekly basis, this will involve supporting learners to develop CVs, interview skills, form filling and job search.

Attendance on a weekly basis will not always be necessary as learners will use the session as a drop in to access support from trained staff.

However, learners will be expected to work towards the employability national standards and could gain a qualification in recognition for their efforts.

Due to the offer of accreditation in employability skills learners will gain the knowledge required for continued development whilst accessing support at a convenient time.

Work Based Pilot Scheme

Through the Skills for Jobs project we ran a NVQ Business Administration Level 1 course and have identified a need to offer progression for these learners to further prepare them for work.

To enable this we have introduced a NVQ Business Admin Level 2 course as a pilot using work based learning.

Six learners commenced work experience in The DP-EVH office attending a minimum of 2 sessions per week during which time they are learning the skills required to maintain the day to day running of a busy admin office.

Once assessment has taken place by both the learners and the staff, external work placements will be sought to develop their skills further and promote our learners with local employers.

If anyone is interested in assisting with a work based placement please contact Karen Wilkinson on 01924 453502.

A view on Family History

Digging up our past almost seems to be national obsession these days with programmes such as "Who do you think you are" achieving regular viewing figures of around 6 million. more on this

Testimonial

Working Together

Pathways Day Services provide therapeutic activity and support for people with mental health problems.

One of our stated aims is to support people into community opportunities that help people work towards their identified personal goals.

The DP-EVH has provided an invaluable resource for many individuals, and a strong partnership-has developed over several years between Pathways and The DP-EVH.

Individuals have benefited from the informal, friendly atmosphere at The DP-EVH and have valued the opportunity to gain computer skills and qualifications. For many people it has been an excellent setting to build up confidence and self esteem, leading in some instances to voluntary and paid employment within The DP-EVH.

The two organisations have also worked together to facilitate groups, with The DP-EVH providing a tutor for people using pathways (supported by Pathways staff) and then moving the whole group to The DP-EVH's premises.

For some, the security of being amongst people they know has helped them move successfully to a new environment.

We look forward to continuing to work together for the benefit of people using both services.

Anne Sharp
Pathways Day Services

4th August 2010

Profile

John Ramsden

John is 49 and lives in Cleckheaton. His first involvement with The DP-EVH came in 2003 when, after realising he needed I.T. skills to aid him in his search for employment he says he was literally dragged round to the DP-EVH by Celia Clegg an employee from Worklink.

John’s previous experience of I.T. was playing on a friend’s computer back in the 80’s and 90’s. So like many before him John started off with Basic I.T and Skills for Life and progressed to New CLAiT and CLAiT Plus.

Eventually he started to help people in classes and found himself drifting into volunteering, such as helping with fundraising on the magic mile.

John decided to get involved with fundraising and with the help of Committee member Anne Thornton was responsible for organising his first DP-EVH Christmas Party in 2007. John now plays a major part in the regular Fundraising Committee meetings.

John pondering new ideas for Fundraising

John’s aim is to gradually take himself out of the comfort zone of The DP-EVH and move forward into employment. He says “what I’ve learned here I can put to good use in the future”.

Currently John is putting together the monthly Student Newsletter in partnership with fellow volunteer Cassy Burton, which is a feat in itself bearing in mind that he has dyslexia.

“what I’ve learned here I can put to good use in the future”

Johns other interests include supporting Huddersfield Town Football club, cricket, from local teams to Yorkshire and international, plus a present interest in meteorology and other earth sciences. John was always fascinated as a child with snow, thunder and lightening and wanted to know what made them occur.

John would like to say a big thank you to all the people who have helped him.

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