Dacorum Communities for Learning

Dacorum Communities for Learning

Our Vision That every person in the local community has the opportunity to enhance their health and well being through learning new skills. Our Aims To provide learning outcomes enabling those members of the community with few or no ICT skills to learn those skills To provide a learning experience in craft, languages and other leisure areas to enhance personal well being and a community spirit. Transforming our services to remain affordable and effective. To focus our services on people that are disadvantaged and least likely to participate. To improve employability and close the skills gap. To widen participation and transform social well being by supporting progression. Our Values We believe in putting people first We will always work to develop our skills and learn from experience. We believe in delivering value for money. We will always be inclusive in our services. We will listen and talk to our communities and partner organisations. We will offer learning in a safe and informal environment.

1. Who we are. Dacorum Communities for Learning (DCFL) is a Charity registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales, providing computer and leisure courses throughout the district of Dacorum. It has a small office based in Boxmoor and Warners End Community Centre. Address DCFL Boxmoor and Warners End Community Centre Stoneycroft Warners End Hemel Hempstead HP1 3QR Telephone 01442 251930 Email admin@dcfl.org.uk Web Site http://www.dcfl.org.uk Charity Commission Registration 1127724

1.1 Our history Dacorum Communities for Learning was established in October 2006. The founding Chairman achieved funding with the support of Dacorum Borough Council to expand an Internet Café Project (Internet Cafés in local Community Centres) into an Adult Learning Project, alongside Highfield Neighbourhood Association. The organisation grew steadily introducing new courses and spreading to other community centre venues in Dacorum. Original partners were Highfield Community Centre, Bennetts End Neighbourhood Association, Gadebridge Community Centre and Grovehill Community Centre. DCFL now operate in Tring Community Centre, Warners End Community Centre and Adeyfield Community Centre along with other community venues as required. Initially the organisation relied on volunteers. Today it has five part-time staff and contracts freelance tutors as necessary. Volunteers still play a vital part in running the organisation from classroom assistants to office administration. Volunteers are managed by a Volunteer Coordinator. The list of courses offered has now grown to over twenty. The organisation is managed by a board of trustees and is a registered charity with the Charity Commission of England and Wales. 1.2 Our Vision That every person in the local community has the opportunity to enhance their health and well being through learning new skills. 1.3 Our Aims To provide learning outcomes enabling those members of the community with few or no ICT skills to learn those skills giving them confidence to use ICT whenever there is a need in their daily life. To provide a learning experience in craft, languages and other leisure areas to enhance personal well being and a community spirit. Transforming our services to remain affordable and effective. To focus our services on those who are disadvantaged and least likely to participate. To improve employability and close the skills gap. To widen participation and transform social well being by supporting progression.

1.4 Our Values We believe in putting people first to ensure that our services meet their needs. We will always work to develop our skills and learn from experience. We believe in delivering value for money. We will always be inclusive in our services to achieve equal success for the people in our district regardless of race, gender, disability sexuality, age, religion or belief, appreciating that those different minority communities enhance the area. We will listen and talk to our communities and partner organisation to improve communication within the organisation.. We will offer learning in a safe and informal environment. 2. Our Activities. Our current activities include providing ICT and other courses in local community venues. We are largely commissioned by HAFLS (Hertfordshire Adult & Family Learning Service) who in turn are funded by the Skills Funding Agency. Activities are determined through consultation with our major funder and the local community. Courses are usually two hour sessions per week over a period of three to six weeks depending on the course. Some of our employability courses are one day duration. 2.1 Courses Basic Computing, Internet and Email, Introduction to MS Excel, Introduction to MS Word, Advanced Word, MS Publisher, MS PowerPoint, Communicating with Skype, Social Media for Personal Use, Basic Web Design, Getting the most from your mobile phone, Introduction to tablet computers, Safeguarding, Crafts, Food Safety and Hygiene, First Aid, Indian Cooking, Advanced Tablet. We are continually creating new courses to meet the public need.

2.2 Centres Adeyfield Community Centre, Boxmoor and Warners End Community Centre, Bennetts End Community Centre,Gadebridge Community Centre, Highfield Community Centre, The Heights, South Hill Centre, Tring Community Centre. As well as our commissioned activities we work with Dacorum Borough Council and other partner organisations providing ICT support as required. 2.3 Recent Successes Working with South Hill Centre to provide ICT support for those seeking to improve their employability skills. This is provided by our tutors and volunteers attending weekly sessions at South Hill Centre. Providing support to local Community Internet Cafe providers through volunteers attending sessions to provide help and advice. We continue to help these community projects ensuring that help is always available and that they continue to serve their local communities. Providing ICT awareness sessions to local sheltered housing schemes. This scheme is helping to give people who have not grown up with computers an insight into what technology can offer, be it talking to far off grandchildren or borrowing books from the library. Nominated for Hertfordshire Volunteer Management Award 2013 Winner of Dacorum Lees Award 2013 for Volunteer Management. This award reflects the commitment to valuing the effort of volunteers. We provided support to a Dacorum Borough Council project to promote their online House Swap by attending an all day demonstration session in the town centre. Our volunteers helped people to register online and talk them through the search options. The success of this was that DBC is now looking to engage in more partnerships. 3. The need 3.1 Who Benefits. Our services are aimed principally at those in the community who are classed as being disadvantaged either through social or financial conditions. Courses are organised in areas of all Dacorum, some of which are designated deprived areas. We also work to offer ICT training to small businesses who would normally find it difficult through financial constraints or because of their small size to offer training to staff.

3.2 How Do They Benefit Equip people with the skills to live in a digital age. Courses are designed to enhance personal well being and a community spirit. Many social benefits and job seeking now require the ability to use ICT skills. Our courses give students those skills and al so the confidence to use them. 3.3 What Similar Services Are Currently Available? Other organisations offer similar services that complement the services of DCFL. None offer the whole range or the progression. DCFL is a member of the Dacorum Learning Partnership which brings all those offering adult learning together. Partner organisations are: Community Action Dacorum, Apsley Paper Trail, West Herts College, DENS, UK Training and Development, South Hill Centre, Hertfordshire Libraries, University of the Third Age. 3.4 : The Unfulfilled Need? There are still areas of Dacorum that do not have easy access to our courses. Our aim is to build new partnerships with community venues within these areas to extend our services. Participation from some ethnic groups and from some areas is not very high. We will devise schemes to encourage these groups to participate. 3.5 How the Organisation Integrates with Other Activities/Providers? We work with partner organisations through the Dacorum Learning Partnership. Whenever the opportunity arises we will make new partnerships. Continue to work with Dacorum Borough Council. Attend local events and always be willing to provide support to other organisations when needed.

4. Management DCFL is managed through a Board of Trustees. The board consists of four officers, (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) plus 7 members. Partner Community Associations can nominate a representative member and other members are co-opted as required. The Officers of the board are elected at the Annual General Meeting and other members approved at the same meeting. The organisations Constitution was first approved in 2006, reviewed and approved in 2010. There are five paid, part-time staff. Chief Executive Officer (paid) Personnel Coordinator (paid) Course Administrator (paid) Office Administrator (paid) Data Administrator (paid) The trustees meet every two months with reports from the sub-committees and from the two managers. We have introduced a Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) system to provide a holistic view of staff, volunteers, trustees and tutors enabling better contact and event management. It is envisaged that this will reduce duplication of effort and provide better reporting. We are also using other software products to minimize photocopying and help work flow with finance, all to improve efficiency and reduce costs. 5. Training and support We have a Training and Development Policy, which details how the various roles will be trained within the organisation, and who is responsible for that training. Tutors have a record of CPD (continuing Professional Development. They are observed at least once a year formally, and any development needs are identified and plans put in place to provide training in the specific area. Tutor meetings also provide some training in bite size chunks (Equality and Diversity, Questioning Techniques, Lesson Planning etc) Volunteers are offered training on Safeguarding and are helped during their induction with any training needs identified. They are

also encouraged to develop their skills by expanding their voluntary roles within DCFL, and some are encouraged to apply for training to become tutors. Trustees are also offered training during their induction period to fully understand their role. A named person is given to the new starter for their support. Office staff are given training throughout the year on Learnertrack, (HAFLS learner monitoring system), and other reporting systems, and are invited to other sessions, as they arise, depending on need and budget. All roles have an induction plan specific to the role, which is managed by a named person. All training needs are dealt with on a priority basis and according to budget. 6. Finance and Funding Finance is controlled through the Office of Treasurer, with the help of an Assistant Treasurer. The Treasurer provides reports and updates to the Trustees and ensures that audited accounts are presented, on time, to the Annual General Meeting and to the Charity Commission. We use QuickBooks as our accounting software to monitor our finances and help plan our budget. 7. Policies & Procedures We have a number of policies and procedures to help ensure that all our operations occur in a safe and impartial environment for Staff, Tutors, Volunteers and Students. Policies and procedures are reviewed and updated on a regular basis. Paper copies of all policies are made available at all courses and students are informed about them as part of the course introduction. Copies in electronic format are also available for download from our website. 7.1 List of Policies and Procedures DCFL Acceptable Use of Technology policy June 2015

DCFL Anti-Bullying & Harassment Policy June 2015 DCFL Children and Young Persons Policy June 2015 DCFL Complaints procedure June 2015 DCFL E-Safety June 2015 DCFL Health and Safety Policy June 2015 DCFL Learning For All June 2015 DCFL Safeguarding Policy June 2015 DCFL Volunteering Policy June 2015 DCFL Volunteering Problem Solving Policy June 2013 DCFL Vulnerable Adults Policy June 2015 DCFL Welcoming Diversity June 2015 DCFL Incident Reporting Form June 2015 DCFL Recruitment and Selection Policy and Procedure June 2015