Random Story from "The Learning Never Ends" book.

My first involvement with WEA was as Essential Skills Co-ordinator in EGSA working with the WEA’s Second Chance Initiative.  This gave me my first taste of what the WEA is all about. It has been such a pleasure as Chairperson to meet with WEA learners, tutors and staff and share in the work of the organisation. Recent highlights include the Essential Skills Awards at Hillsborough Castle, the celebration of workplace learning at Stormont and the Older People Learning event during Age Awareness Week, where the outcomes of the WEA’s work were recognised and celebrated among adult learners of all ages.

The moment that will stay with me most, however, was at the OWL[1] celebration event in 2007. As we prepared to leave the event that night, one of the learners approached Stevie (WEA Director) and announced that she wanted to thank the WEA for the fact that, in her later years of life, the programme had given her the confidence and the opportunity to learn to read – something she thought she would never achieve. It was a humbling and special moment for us all.

Through my time as chair, I have also become more conscious of the WEA as an association. I have enjoyed regular meetings with our counterparts in England, Scotland and Wales and it is good to feel part of a wider movement. I have met so many people who, when I mention my association with WEA, speak of how they attended, or tutored, WEA classes and the impact it had on their lives.

It has been such a pleasure to see the impact of the innovative work of the WEA, in helping adults fulfil their potential through second chance learning and in making a major contribution to peace building at the local level.

They say everyone deserves a ‘second chance’ - the WEA is to be commended for all the second chance opportunities they have provided over the last 100 years. There are so many stories out there – I am proud to be associated with a few of them. 

Ann Osborne
(Current Chairperson)