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Attention: News, Industrial and Education Correspondents

On site Learning Centre opens at Boots

The 1^st September 2003 will see the official opening of the Phoenix Learning Centre on the Beeston, Nottingham site of Boots Plc. The Centre will be opened by John Hannett, Deputy General Secretary of the Union of Shop Distributive and Allied Workers, (Usdaw) and Peter Scriven, Boots Director of Logistics.

The launch of the Phoenix Centre will be celebrated by the key stakeholders from the Union and the Company and learning will begin immediately at the Learning Centre with courses running which have been chosen by the Boots employees and which will meet both the personal and professional needs of the individual.

The successes at Boots are the result of a partnership between the Company, the Trade Union Usdaw and Peoples College Nottingham and are centred on the role of the Trade Union Learning Representative. Union Learning Representatives are a new type of Trade Union activist who are trained to identify learning needs and encourage individual employees to access learning opportunities.

The initial pilot covers all full and part time, permanent and temporary employees of Boots Retail Logistics and Boots Properties Engineering and Facilities Management. Boots Suppliers like Unipart, Tibbett & Britten, ARAMARK and agency staff are also able to take advantage.

To help employees make choices about which courses they would like to learn, the Union Learning Representatives have carried out individual Learning Needs Analysis Questionnaires with learners and in response to the findings, People’s College have been running Taster Sessions in the most popular choices. Employees have enjoyed sessions in ITC and Counselling Skills and many of the Taster Sessions have had a holiday theme, such as how to book a cheap holiday through the internet, sending an email to your new friends abroad, Spanish for beginners and essential skills such as dealing with problems you may face whilst abroad.

The issue of Lifelong Learning at Boots was raised during discussions around terms and conditions in 2001 between Usdaw and Boots Plc when USDAW members asked for Lifelong Learning opportunities to be made available at their workplace. Since then 25 Union Learning Reps have been trained, a steering group has been set us to oversee the project and ensure its success and the Union Learning Reps have carried out the learning needs analysis.

Elaine Wightman, Usdaw Union Learning Rep says 'I became a Union Learning Rep because I saw it as my opportunity to help people to learn new skills and through Learning I believe people are able to achieve their full potential'. Elaine has been involved in the lifelong learning project from the start and she has worked hard to ensure a learning centre be made available at the Thane Road site. 'Having the learning centre on-site makes learning convenient and takes away many of the barriers that working people face. The Union Learning Rep role is central because it means people feel supported and encouraged to learn. If we work together, why not learn together?'

Peter Scriven, Boots Director of Logistics commenting said: 'As a responsible employer we are committed to staff development. We realise that there are barriers to learning. Through partnering with Usdaw and The People’s College Nottingham, we are able to offer learning opportunities that are convenient, accessible and relevant to our people.'

Notes to Editors:

All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Lisa Stones, TUC Learning Services Project Worker on 07884 186083;

Jo-Christa Lyus, Lifelong Learning Project Worker for Usdaw on 07949 943683; Janine Goodwin, Boots Project Leader on 0115 959 5513.

Press release (700 words) issued 1 Sep 2003