NLC through its innovative and flexible approach to adult learning is seen as a key provider. Its work is both local and nationally recognitionised. The project started its life with Huddersfield Pakistani Community Alliance and was made independent in 2002. The NLC is presently funded through the National lottery and a number of other sources and has considerably expanded its learning provision.

INSPIRE:

A new pioneering leadership programme developed and implemented jointly by the Huddersfield Pakistani Community Alliance and the African Caribbean Trust. The aim was to test some new ways of investing in the BME community and voluntary sector whilst also seeking to foster a sense of unity and collaboration between two communities.

The Inspire programme commenced in September 2003 with a weekend residential and  over the course of the next ten months the participants took part in a series of eight one-day sessions and then a final residential that were designed to provide people with the skills, knowledge and inspiration they needed to become effective leaders in their own communities/ organisations.

The broad aims of the programme were:

To strengthen and develop human resources within the community.
To enable sustainable development through embedding of skills.
To produce ‘new blood’ within the community.
To establish a sustainable mechanisms for future community activity
To enable ethnic minority communities to understand the systems and structures they are working within.
To enable better communications within and between communities.
 

Many of the participants that took part in the programme are now actively involved in community projects and some have gone on to full time paid positions in the community/ public sectors.

Home Study Learning Project:

This ground breaking project was over a three year period with funding from the Children’s Fund.

The principal aim of the project was to raise the attainment levels of ethnic minority pupils, whom were  under achieving, improve school attendance and increase parental involvement in the education of children and young people within the home and school environment.

The project existed to extend, develop and improve opportunities for children to play and learn in safe stimulating environments. This way accomplished by providing home tutoring to deliver educational support within the national curriculum, and offer a range of facilities, opportunities and experiences to meet the social, physical, intellectual and emotional needs of children and young people in the form of play scheme and home clubs.

This was a partnership project between children, parents, Schools and other organisations to support parents ‘to change learning ethos of education at home’.