May 20 2011 2:00PM
The heart warming stories of adult learners in Suffolk were in the spotlight at the Suffolk Learner of the Year Awards 2011, with the big winners on the night being the Ali family- an exceptional family who came to Ipswich as refugees and built a good life for themselves through hard work and education.
The Ali Family won the Outstanding Family Learners of the Year Award and the big award of the night for Outstanding Learner/s of the Year, presented by UCS Provost and CEO Professor Mike Saks. The family have attended various courses through Suffolk New College, with Mahdi, his wife Nadia and daughter Hawar all taking English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) classes. Mahdi has been taking ESOL classes since 2005, often after shift-work and very little sleep. Nadia is a full time mum, whilst Hawar attends evening classes along side a full time Childcare course.
Hawber and Hawker, their two teenage sons, have both studied at Suffolk new College too, on ESOL and ICT courses respectively. Both are returning next year for mainstream courses at the college.
BBC Radio Suffolk Breakfast Show presenter and UCS Honorary Graduate, Mark Murphy, was the compère on the night. “The Ali Family are all committed to education and determined to learn and are an excellent example of how valuable ESOL classes are in helping new immigrants to integrate into society, and work.”
A total of eight awards were presented on the night, including the 65+ Learner of the Year Award which was won by Vivian McNamara, who at the age of 85 took on a Computer for Beginners course to improve her IT skills.
Other winners on the night included Teresa Buckland as Inspirational Learner of the Year, Digby Chacksfield as Tutor of the Year, Alan Jenkins as Volunteer of the Year, PASTEL Community Interest Company as Learning Project of the Year and Caley Dean received the Learning at Work Award.
Leap joined forces with the Suffolk Partnership for Informal Adult Learning (SPIAL) to organise the ceremony which took place on Thursday 19 May at the UCS Waterfront Building| in celebration of Adult Learners Week.
Robin Hodgkinson, Chair of SPIAL, said: “The awards ceremony was a very uplifting and emotional experience. The life stories of the award recipients demonstrated the value of informal adult learning, not only in providing learning opportunities, but also in transforming people’s lives. SPIAL will ensure that this becomes an annual event to celebrate the diversity of learning in Suffolk and the extraordinary achievements of learners, projects, volunteers and tutors.”
Miles Cole, Leap| Project manager, declared the awards ceremony a fantastic success. “The examples of how adult learning can transform people’s lives is a credit to all the tutors, volunteers, providers and learners and we look forward to next years celebration.”
A list of all the winners and runners-up can be found here|.