Members of the adult learning ESOL and Employability classes running at Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s TryZone Education centre took part in a "Turn Your Hobby into a Business" enterprise project in December designed to help them learn language and the skills needed to assist them in finding employment in the UK
Leeds Rhinos Foundation has been delivering ESOL and Employability provision as part of Leeds City Council’s framework on the Adult Community Learning Programme provider list since June 2014, delivering 160 hours of employability skills tuition to learners characterized as in areas of need.
ESOL Enterprise, although providing just a small portion of the overall hours of delivery from the Foundation alongside ‘Preparing for Work’, ‘Preparing for Interview’ and provision for learning ICT and Maths skills, offers attendees the chance to get creative and utilise their craft making skills to produce products suitable for sale.
Courses delivered by Leeds Rhinos Foundation are approved by the Council on the basis that they help learners to move nearer to the Labour Market as Adult Learning Officer for the Foundation, Jaci Hawkins explains:
“We have an obligation as a local organisation to assist the local community in finding employment in the UK and with a refuge on our doorstep in Headingley and through our partnership with the council, we have been able to deliver over 400 hours of ESOL and Employability provision to over 560 learners to date, helping many to succeed in finding employment.
“ESOL Enterprise is a fantastic way to engage the learners in a different aspect of their ESOL ‘Skills for Jobs’ delivery and calls upon some of their more practical skills, while also developing some of the areas previously worked on such as language and maths skills, so it’s a fun way to deliver the course.”
As part of a festive Christmas theme for the project, the learners took part in ‘turning a hobby into a business’ by making gift boxes, Christmas decorations and handmade gifts. The learners looked at where their business idea could come from, costing and pricing the products, basic marketing ideas and operations and sales.
“The learners, who are from a range of different backgrounds, all brought different skills to the table when making of our products and showed their progress in terms of their understanding and the items they produced. It has been a real success, added Hawkins.”
For more information on ESOL learning courses delivered by the Leeds Rhinos Foundation contact Jaci.Hawkins@leedsrhinosfoundation.org or visit www.leedsrhinosfoundation.org