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Latest News
Carol is running a marathon!
Carol, one of our Tutors in Newport, is going to be running the Brighton marathon! She'll be attempting to complete all 26 miles in April in aid of Extend, the charity which promotes music to movement for the over 60s, and which many of our project participants have benefited from.
This is an epic challenge and it'd be great to support her so please check out her blog, photos and info about how to sponsor her at http://www.extend.org.uk/blog/1370
We're looking for a volunteer - could it be you?!?
We are looking for a volunteer to take on one of our groups!
Are you enthusiastic and friendly?
Backstage at the Wales Millennium Centre
Our Gofal group who have been learning english and all about their community of Cardiff have recently been on a tour to the Wales Millennium Centre run by WMC staff members Hannah and Martin. They went backstage, into the heights of the building, and even saw the inside of the roofspace of the beautiful building (not so good for those with vertigo!). They appreciated seeing the great facility, seeing the massive array of opportunities on offer there, the huge Christmas tree, and the surroundings of Cardiff Bay in the rare November sunshine!
The Oasis Centre for refugees and asylum seekers
Our group of ladies from the Welsh Refugee Council have been learning IT and english skills and recently went on a trip to the 'Oasis' Centre in Cardiff which is an organisation that aims to 'help refugee’s and asylum seekers to integrate into their local community of Cardiff' (www.oasiscardiff.org) The organisation provides a daily drop-in service, advice and a variety of groups, and the ladies appreciated getting to know the opportunities available to them.
Gofal group's trip to local coffee shop
The 'Social interaction' group from Gofal, Roath, has been learning conversational english alongside improving their confidence, and learning about their community and local facilities, so a trip to the local coffee shop was an ideal opportunity! The group thoroughly enjoyed looking through the menu, placing the order in english and having a lovely warming hot chocolate with marshmallows which they'd never tried before! mmm....
We say a sad goodbye to Chris
Chris, our Cardiff Coordinator, has moved to Herefordshire, so we're saying a sad goodbye to her from the Switched On Project team. Chris has been with the project since the start back in 2008, and will be greatly missed. She has been an enormous asset to the project and has dedicated huge amounts of time and effort to get the project where it is today. We will her all the best in her new endeavours!
Novas Scarman becomes People Can!
Our main partner organisation, Novas Scarman, has undergone rebranding to become 'People Can'. People Can's mission is 'To help people with fewer chances to use their abilities and work together for better lives and stronger communities'. The charity has a new logo and website, and brings together the different aspects of the charity's work througout the UK in one coherent brand, really reflecting the 'Can Do' attitude which is the core principle throughout all the work.
The main areas of People Can's work are:
Training opportunities
Katie has been busy organising several training opportunities for our tutors, support workers and volunteers of the project. During the summer this included Financial Inclusion Training, delivered by Cardiff Council's Trading Standards Officer, Bas.
Leanne and Cristina join the team!
During the summer, Leanne Taylor and Cristina Higuera Martin joined the Switched On Project team as Learner Support Officers. There new posts are for 10 hours per week and will involve close contact with our range of groups in the two cities, giving support to the participants. Leanne is based in Newport, in the Sewrec office, and Cristina is working in Cardiff, and they are great additions to the team!
