1. Bernard Godding Chair & CEO Educational Centres Association

2. Dedicated to promoting, supporting and delivering adult education and lifelong learning Committed to recognising the worth and potential of individuals and widening participation.

3. Views education as a means of sustainably promoting social inclusion, urban regeneration and neighbourhood renewal, to ensure that everyone has a fair chance to realise their potential and to actively participate in society

4. How can lifelong learning help to empower communities?

5. Paulo Freire ‘Education either functions as an instrument to facilitate... integration &... conformity... or it becomes “the practice of freedom”, the means by which men and women deal critically with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world’ Gramsci, Freire, and Adult Education: Possibilities for Transformative Action, by Peter Mayo, Macmillan, 1999

6. Learning is pivotal to successful social policy because it: - holds policy together is a means of empowerment is an active building block of civil society is needed in order to build capacity and aid active citizenship Matthew Scott, Director, Community Sector Coalition

7. Lifelong learning builds the capacity of and empowers citizens, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to contribute to their community

8. “All should share in community action” ESA Conference, The Folk House, Bristol, 1938 Risca Adult Education Centre Club Group preparing to clear Wattsville site

9. a distinctive approach to learning that enables people to make an active contribution to their communities and influence public policies and services

10. Training course for those involved in teaching active citizenship in non formal education.

11. Championing the unique contribution that the community sector makes to society

12. A practical approach to help community groups unlock their hidden ‘people power’ and work together more effectively

13. “Show me a society where everyone has the opportunity and desire to seek out new knowledge and new skills and I’ll show you a society that really deserves to be called ‘bigger’.” John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, Royal Society of Arts 26 th October 2010

14. www.e-c-a.ac.uk info@e-c-a.ac.uk http://www.facebook.com/home.php #!/pages/Educational-Centres Association/174905595888288 http://www.youtube.com/user/THE ECATV?feature=mhum