Amey, who provide highways maintenance services on behalf of Hampshire County Council, have celebrated a successful business relationship with trade union, Unite, and Portsmouth based Highbury College, to support a number of employees to develop their skills in English and Maths.
The Skills for Life scheme, introduced to Amey through Unite, allows up to nine Amey employees day release to study with Highbury College to enhance their basic, functional English and Maths.
The success of the students who have taken part in the scheme over the last 18 months was recognised at a small event for students, tutors and representatives from Amey, Unite and Highbury College. Students were awarded class certificates to recognise their personal hard work and effort.
David Fawcett, Customer Services Manager at Amey, said: “Functional skills in English and Maths allow individuals to work more confidently, effectively and independently in everyday life. We are delighted to be supporting our employees in partnership with Unite and Highbury College in this important initiative and have already seen the significant difference it has made to their lives both in and out of work”.
Representatives from Highbury College were Karen Northover, Head of English and Mathematics, and lecturer of English and Mathematics, Naomi Smith said of the partnership: “The scheme has proven to be a great success for all involved over the past 18 months. We are absolutely delighted to be working with Amey and Unite. The students have such a great attitude towards learning and progressing their English and Maths skills, with many of them achieving several Functional Skills qualifications already! They deserve recognition for their hard work and the celebration event was the perfect way to facilitate this.”
Malcolm Bonnett, Unite Regional Officer for the Construction Sector in the South East said: "Over the past 18 months, we have been delighted to be working in conjunction with Amey and Highbury College. With support from the Union Learning Fund*, we have aided adult learners in improving their English and Maths skills. This has only not benefitted our members, but also both Amey and the users of highways in Hampshire."
Skills for Life is the national strategy for improving adult literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. The strategy was first launched in 2001 with the aim of improving the basic skills levels of over 2.5 million adults living in England.