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NOCN has been involved with the Festival of Learning for a number of years as part of its ongoing commitment to Learning and Work, and each year the stories and experiences of award nominees demonstrate the transformational impact of learning.

"Congratulations to everyone who was nominated and who won at this year's awards. Every year when we're preparing for the Festival of Learning, I hear all these stories of achievement, what learners have done to reach their goals and then to win their awards, and I am truly inspired. Learning new skills, gaining qualifications, and improving career prospects - all of this can lead to people living better lives. This is what we're about at NOCN, it is essentially our mission to help people improve their lives through learning and skills and that is why I support this worthy campaign." – Graham Hasting-Evans, Group MD

On 12th June 2018, Festival of Learning hosted its annual Awards in central London where Graham Hasting-Evans, Managing Director at NOCN, attended to present the Learning for Work and the Employer Award. Graham was delighted to present Tracey Everitt the Learning for Work Award after she had returned to learning to create a new future for herself and her children. Tracey’s entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to learning has given her the confidence run her own successful Ofsted approved childminding business. On accepting her award, Tracey said “Learning opened doors for my family that I never thought would be opened”. Read Tracey’s story here.

The Employer Award celebrates employers that have used learning to develop their workforce, equipping them with the skills needed to improve productivity, raise morale and increase staff retention. Graham presented this award to pladis, the global snacking company behind McVitie’s, which accessed the Apprenticeship levy to deliver training to ‘Advanced Team Members’ (ATMs). The training reduced the pressure on the wider team as many mechanical faults could be solved by the higher-skilled ATMs. Nina Sparks from pladis said “By upskilling we’ve been able to unlock productivity and reshape our workforce to meet the future demands of our business.” Read pladis’ story here.

Along with the categories NOCN sponsored, other awards included Return to Learning, Outstanding Individual Learner Award and Social Impact Award. It was fantastic to see learners, tutors, trainers and employers sharing their success stories and receive recognition for their hard work in the education sector.
Want to get involved? Although the awards are now over for 2018, June is Festival of Learning’s ‘Have a Go Month’ which aims to showcase the thousands of opportunities for individuals to engage in learning. Read more in our blog here.