SERC Wins the Association of Colleges Beacon Award for Widening Participation

SERC has won the prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for Widening Participation 2021/22 in recognition of a project to improve access to education in the Newcastle area of County Down.

The annual AoC Beacon Awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice among UK Colleges including activities to widen participation for groups often under-represented in further education.  

SERC won the award for the CARE Project in Murlough, Newcastle, County Down. The project was set up to engage and support adults in the area who have previously been failed by the education system and to help them successfully return to education. The intention is, through education, to address poverty and inequalities in employment in the area.  

The SERC team worked hard with other agencies to build trust within the community and to understand local barriers to learning.   

Adult education programmes were designed based on community needs, which included timetabling to accommodate family responsibilities and delivering walking tutorials to give students an opportunity to be with their peers in a relaxing and supportive learning environment.   

SERC was able to source funding from the Coastal Communities Fund to establish a creche at the Newcastle Campus to address a local shortage of childcare.

The College also worked with the Benefits Office to clarify and confirm the rules, which state that part-time study should not affect benefit income and to identify a key contact person to communicate with students. This prevented students from abandoning their education due to fear of losing benefit income. 

The outcome of the project is that access to education for adults in the Murlough community has grown annually, with 100% of students who have successful completed their courses progressing onto university or the workplace.   There is also evidence of the positive impact on students’ families, especially where there have been multiple generations of unemployment by breaking this trend, through access to adult education and raising aspirations throughout the family.  

Ken Webb, SERC Principal & Chief Executive, says he is delighted that the CARE project has been recognised, “This award acknowledges SERC’s commitment to helping enhance local communities through access to life-changing education and underlines the College’s dedication to helping people achieve their education and career-oriented goals."      

He added, “I would like to congratulate all those involved in the SERC CARE Project for their hard work helping those in need of education access in the Murlough area. SERC continues to build on the success of the project with more activities and engagement which will demonstrate the role of the College at the heart of the community.”  

Ellie Bradley, Deputy Head of School of Health, Early Years and Adult Education said, “This the only Award sponsored by AoC and it recognises the core business of Further Education in that everyone should be able to avail of education and Further Education is about widening participation.”  

Mark White, Chair of AoC’s Charitable Trust said, “The AoC Beacon Awards showcase exactly why colleges are so important to every community and why people value them. This award recognises the work of South Eastern Regional College in providing students with the necessary skills for the real world.”