Home-grown talent shines at learning and skills awards

Jan 15 2008 By The Journal

If ever we needed to be reminded about our home-grown talent, the Learning and Skills Council’s (LSC) North-East Celebration of Learning and Skills (CoLaS) awards provided the ideal trigger. The CoLaS awards, which culminated with an ‘Oscar’ style ceremony at The Sage Gateshead in October, honoured and rewarded some of the region’s most outstanding individuals and employers, recognising their innovative and progressive approach to skills development and learning excellence.

This year’s ceremony was the biggest event of its kind ever to be held in the region, with a total of 11 awards covering all aspects of education, employment and skills development, from hospitality and media to recruitment and construction.

The economic future of the North-East depends upon people who can learn and improve throughout their working lives in order to keep the region competitive.

Rewarding achievement is crucial to increasing participation and attainment in learning through raising motivation and morale. But celebrating achievement through awards ceremonies such as this also raises awareness of the value of learning. The importance of learning throughout life can never be underestimated: it can open doors and change lives like nothing else can.

Chris Roberts, Regional Director, LSC North- East, said: “All of the shortlisted nominees for the 2007 Celebration of Learning and Skills awards, as well as the winners, have fantastic stories to tell and all are highly deserving of having their achievements recognised in such a high-profile way.

There can only be one winner in each category, however, and I am confident that we have chosen a group of highly inspirational individuals and companies who can serve as role models for others across the North-East. I would like to congratulate them and hope they keep up the good work in the future.”

All of the winners were present at the CoLaS awards ceremony, where they joined 1,000 other invited guests to enjoy an evening of regional recognition and local entertainment, hosted by television personality Kirsty Gallacher.

The winners:

Gateshead student Michael Dollan was victorious in the Arts and Media category, sponsored by Arts Council England, North- East, thanks to his work with CoMusica’s Music Spark’s programme, which promotes learning through music and drama and offers work-based training at The Sage Gateshead for people with learning disabilities.

Asia Shameen, who is profoundly deaf and uses British Sign language to communicate, was recognised for her outstanding academic success at Newcastle College and work teaching sign language to her fellow students, by receiving the Business, Enterprise and IT award, sponsored by Business Link North-East.

Sunderland teenager Melissa McNaughton was presented with the Construction, Engineering and Manufacturing award, sponsored by ConstructionSkills, after becoming the first person to pass the full construction qualification at Springboard North-East, despite being homeless throughout her studies.

Heather Bolam, owner of the New Inn public house in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, won the Hospitality, Travel and Tourism award, sponsored by Assessment North-East, after rescuing the pub from financial failure and transforming it into a successful customer- focused venue.

Not-for-profit Newcastle organisation Giantminds was successful in the Working in the Community category, sponsored by FE+, receiving recognition for its deliverance of an accessible enterprise education programme for young people aged between 11 and 18.

Darlington company BiB Insurance Ltd won the Pioneering Recruitment award, sponsored by Barclays, after establishing a highly successful training programme and increasing its intake of young people from Darlington.

Loftus-based company Cleveland Potash, operators of the UK’s only potash mine, was honoured for its long-term commitment to training young people, with a special Investment in Skills award, sponsored by Skills North-East.

Middlesbrough postal worker Kevin Phillips was presented with the Trade Union Lifelong Learning award, sponsored by unionlearn,
in recognition of his hard work on behalf of the Communication Workers Union Live and Learn project, which has helped a number of workers at the Cannon Park sorting office to undertake digital photography, basic computing and CLAIT courses.

Hartlepool boxer Mick Hadfield received the Sports and Recreation award, sponsored by Newcastle College, after successfully balancing his in-the-ring training with an electrician’s Apprenticeship for construction and development firm Gus Robinson Developments.

One of the most surprised winners of the night was care worker Linda Gallon, who won a public vote sponsored by UFI/Learndirect, to be crowned Outstanding Achiever 2007. Linda retrained as a carer after her husband was taken seriously ill and she spent years nursing him back to a degree of independence. She continued her training even after his tragic death and is now manager of a care home in Wideopen.

The other big winner was retired teacher Philip Gordon, who spent 30 years working in the education sector and has had a monumental impact on the lives of thousands of students. Philip’s devotion and enthusiasm toward his geography teaching and instrumental role in improving the performance of Walker Technology College, earned him the LSC North-East’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

To see all of the pictures from the night visit www.lsc.gov.uk/colas07