The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) has received £5,000 to fund a mobile information technology unit. The new unit will be taken into communities in West Sussex to teach basic computing skills to unemployed people, single parent families and the elderly.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
The WEA is a charity dedicated to bringing high-quality, professional education into the heart of communities. The organisation has a special mission to raise aspirations and develop educational opportunities for the most disadvantaged. The WEA is the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education, delivering over 9,000 part-time courses for over 60,000 people each year in England and Scotland. The grant will support a mobile information technology unit by providing WEA with 10 laptops, Microsoft office licenses and a projector which will enable them to organise classes in community centres and local venues.
Jayne Routley, Education Coordinator in the WEA’s southern region, said: “Receiving this grant is so exciting and will make such a difference. We have been working with a lot of people who have little or no computer experience and really want to learn but don’t have the confidence or funds to join a course that might be a long way from where they live. Now we’ll be able to support them by taking the learning to them.”
Benjamin Osborne, Branch Director at Santander’s Bishopsgate branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations every year to good causes throughout the UK. We are committed to playing a key part in the community and we are delighted to be supporting the WEA and hope the donation makes a real difference to local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander Email: leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk
Tel: 020 7756 4543
Mwen Rukandema at WEA Email: mrukandema@wea.org.uk
Tel: 07342 083830
About The WEA
Founded in 1903, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is the UK’s largest voluntary sector provider of adult education, delivering over 9,000 part-time courses for over 60,000 people each year in England and Scotland.
With the active support of around 350 local branches, 3,000 volunteers, 2,000 part-time tutors and 10,000 members, the WEA provides high quality, student-centred and tutor-led education for adults from all walks of life. We also maintain our special mission to provide educational opportunities to adults facing social and economic disadvantage.
The WEA provides courses across four curriculum themes:
- Employability: to develop confidence, understanding and skills to help adults, at all stages of their lives, participate more fully in the world of work
- Health & Wellbeing: to combat inequalities and promote a social and preventative model of health and well-being
- Community Engagement: to combat social exclusion and promote active citizenship
- Culture: to broaden horizons through understanding cultures, identities and environments embodying our commitment to social purpose
For further information on the charity, please visit http://www.wea.org.uk
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 December 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 806 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.