Leonardo Mobility: increasing skills and broadening horizons

As part of the Communications team we always love to hear about how you use our funding and the far-reaching benefits that it brings.  Recently I spoke to Rachel Delourme, Sustainability Co-ordinator & STEM Advisor at Cornwall Learning, who, as part of Cornwall Learning, has co-ordinated Leonardo Mobility projects for both Initial Vocational Training and People in the Labour Market.  Speaking to Rachel made me appreciate just how far-reaching the impact of the Lifelong Learning Programme can be.

Broadening horizons

I began by asking Rachel a bit about why the project had started.  She described how six years ago she was working on education and business partnerships and how links with businesses and young people could benefit each other specifically in the catering and hospitality sector.  In Cornwall this type of work can be very seasonal with a lot of opportunities for young people to gain skills and experience in the summer months but with these opportunities drying up during the winter.  Rachel wanted to start a project that would provide young people with the chance to work in another part of Europe during this period.  The idea behind this is that it would provide the opportunity for people to increase their skills and experience all year round and allow them to be inspired and increase their knowledge and culinary creativity.  On their return these new skills would be integrated into the local community and the experience would also provide participants with the confidence to venture outside of Cornwall, something that without an opportunity like this, young people would rarely do. Read the rest of this entry »