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North East adult learners attack 'disgusting' funding cuts

WEA WEA learners holding protestWEA
Workers' Educational Association learners have held protests at local councils

Adult learners have reacted angrily to threatened funding cuts for their courses.

Protests have been held in Durham and Tyneside after the Workers' Educational Association (WEA) was told it will lose its £1.3m annual grant.

But the incoming North East Mayoral Combined Authority (NEMCA) insists WEA and others will be able to compete for new contracts in the summer.

The charity warns the move risks dozens of courses and the jobs of 72 tutors.

A group of adult learners in Horden
The Workers' Educational Association puts on classes for about 1,600 people in the North East

In a statement, NEMCA said adult education providers, including the WEA, would be able to secure contracts through a competitive process.

"In addition to this our local FE colleges and local authorities will receive grant funding for Adult Education activity because of the significant volume of provision they deliver," it said.

But WEA warned it will be bidding for a smaller pot of money under the new process and with no guarantee of success.

Chief executive Simon Parkinson said the plans would mean fewer lessons in the community, which would be "devastating for about 1,600 learners right across the region".

"We can do everything from community learning, textiles, history, arts courses and technical skills to help people looking for employment," he said.

"That flexibility and scale we can bring to it will be lost."

Cheryl Robson
Cheryl Robson says the sessions are important to help people tackle loneliness in Horden

Among those fighting to save a weekly craft class in Horden, County Durham, is retired administrator Cheryl Robson.

"It gets people talking, those people who sometimes don't have any company during the week," she said.

Anne Glaister
Anne Glaister said she could not understand the decision to pull the funding

Grandmother Anne Glaister, who was crocheting children's toys in Horden, called the decision "disgusting" and points to the numbers who attend evening classes in the former pit village.

Staff and learners in South Shields are also unhappy at the threat hanging over WEA lessons.

Tutor Hoda Darawsha said the lessons were "really important" to support people going into a job.

"We give people what they need to know," she said.

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