UNITED KINGDOM West Midlands Region – Area of Contrasts Birmingham – City – Capital Herefordshire – Rural – County Town Hereford Shropshire – Rural – County Town – Telford/Ludlow Staffordshire – rural – County Town Stafford Worcestershire -rural – County Town Worcester Warwickshire – rural – County Town Warwick 22nd October 20091

Old Concepts Birmingham & West Midlands – Founding fathers of the industrial revolution (18/19 th century) automotive (20 th century) Herefordshire – Cathedral & cattle breeding Shropshire – castles, farming, but now industrial revolution of the “Telford” theme 22nd October 20092

nd October Staffordshire – farming, famous for hanging up t 18 th century but also North Staffordshire potteries, porcelain, now creative industries. Worcestershire – castles, farming & porcelain, music “Elgar” Warwickshire – castles, heritage, “Shakespeare” automotive supply

Birmingham 22nd October 20094

Contrasts of People & Places 22nd October 20095

People SikhsMuslims Irish, Scottish, WelshTravellers African-Caribbean'sChinese European Immigrants, Polish, Romanian etc Jews Social cohesion –riots, civil disobedience 22nd October 20096

Shropshire 22nd October 20097

Shropshire Heritage 22nd October 20098

STATISTICS Population 290,900 Men 143,700Women 147,200 The population density 0.91 persons per hectare (ha) or 236 persons per square mile compared to a national figure of 3.92 persons per ha or 1,015 persons per square mile. The area of Shropshire is 319,736 hectares or 1,235 square miles. 22nd October 20099

Initiatives Universities & Colleges with “University Status” Women in Rural Enterprise Family Learning Leonardo & Grundtvig Programmes Lifetime Learning Programmes Learning & Skills Councils Regional Development Agency County Council Training Programmes Framework 7 applications 22nd October

Where does our project fit in ? 22nd October

Vision: Build relationships which guide & unlock knowledge Capture, codify & disseminate

DIRECTORS: Ken Lester Christine Lester Noel Hodson 35 Associates People who share our Vision 13

Not for Profit Limited company since 2000 Constitution Articles of Association History: it came from a national business think-tank and an inclusive approach worked with 500 top Corporate Companies WMTL exists to bring that knowledge to the Region of the West Midlands 14

SEMINARS “Harnessing the Knowledge of the Region” – Seminar, Government Agencies, Universities, City Council, West Midlands businesses on “competitiveness” “Joined up Thinking for the Emergency Services (national crisis) Leadership for 3 police forces in response to call for social inclusion. Leadership Consultative Event – Windsor Castle (annually) bringing together top leaders to debate leadership issues. “Social Inclusion” self empowerment & related social issues, ethnicity, youth problems, health, training & education 22nd October

Projects Strategy & development of a Centre for Abused Women in Birmingham – social enterprise & empowerment for women & children Feasibility Study for Black Community Development in Bradford – Centre for Cultural Studies Feasibility Study to provide headquarters for a major textile archive of importance to the business community (purchase & house the collection). Learning Sets: Social Responsibility, Health, Policing, Tourism & Heritage, Enterprise & Innovation Development of a strategy for the sustainability of social enterprise, charities & trusts. 16

Chairperson of Dudley Social Business Partnership Umbrella organisation for social enterprises for the training & employment of the physically challenged 22nd October

22 nd October Business Support Third sector Social Responsibility Tourism & Heritage Public Sector (strategy) Social Enterprise Textile Design

EUROPEAN SUPPORT: Italy Spain Finland Netherlands Romania Turkey Lithuania Switzerland 22 nd October

Greece Portugal Germany Belgium Austria Poland Latvia 22 nd October

Vocational Centre People Development – Management – Leadership – Customer Services – Administration – Business Support Accreditation of Prior Achievement/Learning Assessors & Advisers in “Investors in People”: Tourism, Heritage, Hospitality, Business networking, learning sets. Third sector support, family learning

PROJECTS – 4 th largest Cathedral in UK employing 60 staff & 450 volunteers – Leadership, Management Development – Largest Diocese in the UK – Management Development – Accountancy practice – people development – Small businesses – people development – 2 Local Government Councils – Accreditation, Coaching & Mentoring Awards, Train the Trainer – Ministry of Defence – Leadership Academy – Auto-motive Sector – Investors in People – volvo cars, administration & mentoring, vocational qualifications – Recognising achievement of 185 team leaders in manufacturing – Automotive Suppliers – Rover Cars - first line suppliers – chain management, best practice & benchmarking

PROJECTS – Nursing/care Homes – strategy to meet national standards of care through people development – British Council & World Bank – developed a toolkit for national training for Mexico – British Council & World Bank – National Skills Authority & Training Boards of South Africa – skills assessment – British Council & World Bank – Curriculum development for all skills area for Egypt – Charity/Trust – Social Enterprises for the employment of the physically challenged – National Training Recognition of Assessors & Internal Verifiers training in all sectors for organisations – Programme of learning for small businesses – identifying & managing people skills – European project – Qualifying on the Spot – recognition of prior achievement (finishes 2010) 23

AWARDS Royal Society of Arts, Commerce & Industry National Recognising Achievement Award For Use of a Vocational Qualification in an Innovative Manner 24