At present we have over 120 volunteers, with over 70 supporting the centre at any one time. Volunteers are working over 250 hours per week with us, that's 7 full time jobs!

Volunteers work in all of our classes and also as receptionists, creche volunteers, translators, outreach workers and on publicity. Class volunteers allow students to learn at their own pace. Students can work one-to-one with a volunteer or may only need occasional assistance, preferring to work independently. Tutors devise the working materials and have overall responsibility for the students' progress. The role of the volunteer is to work alongside the student to listen, to support and to build confidence.

We have a large group of volunteers who are taking a career break or who have retired from many different paid roles bringing their experience and skills. We also have a significant proportion of volunteers either on education or childcare training courses. A large group of volunteers are ex-students who have enjoyed themselves so much they don't want to leave! Finally, we are grateful to our parents who want to volunteer while using our crèche to help their children to prepare for school (and for a break themselves!).

As a volunteer at the Workshop you will have access to specialised training both to develop your skills in your subject area and for your own interest and enjoyment. All volunteer training is free although where there is great demand for places we may ask you to pay a £3.00 returnable deposit to guarantee your place. We welcome suggestions about training and aim to provide whatever you feel will be interesting and relevant. You may have skills that you wish to share with other volunteers. Why not arrange your own training session and add to the list? Here is a brief overview of the courses available at the workshop. They will be run whenever there is sufficient demand. Ask about crèche places if you need one.

Basic Skills software
Communication Skills for Learning Support Workers
Learning Styles
Dyslexia Awareness
Introduction to Dyslexia
Introduction to The Disability Discrimination Act and Disability Awareness
Job Search Workshops

We have also been visited by NIACE and RNID for some useful and inspiring training.

We are running 12 hours of courses at Barlow Moor ICT Centre, with full volunteer support and our classes at St Werburgh's Church is going well with help from volunteers. Thank you very much to all the outreach volunteers who often work without the resources and support available at the main site in Chorlton. Outreach is very important, attracting people who would find it difficult to attend our main site.

Several of our volunteers have taken paid roles here as Student Support Workers in ICT classes. They work one to one with students to help them to overcome barrriers to learning. We are able to provide a much more inclusive service as a result of this. We will be increasing the amount of student support workers this year and will be likely to recruit most of them from the volunteer team.

Our mentor scheme ensures that new volunteers have someone in the same class to help them feel more at home during the first weeks of term. Your mentor will be a volunteer who can either answer your enquiries or tell you who to ask. You will be introduced to your mentor on your first lesson. Thanks to everyone who has made sure that new volunteers feel welcome.

Chorlton Workshop counselling service exists to improve the experience of students, volunteers and staff at the centre and to provide placements for counsellors in training. It has been running for 2 years and has been very successful.

Anyone can apply for counselling and it is free of charge. Counselling is a space where you can talk openly and in complete confidence about your thoughts, feelings and experiences. Our three counsellors are fully qualified to practice and are finishing their training. They all adhere to the ethics and standards for practice set out by the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP).

If you apply for counselling you will need to meet with the Service Co-ordinator, Emma for an assessment which will take about 1 hour. In this assessment you will be advised in more depth about the counselling process and will have a chance to think about why you want counselling and about the issues that may come up for you. If our service is right for you, you will be given an appointment to see your counsellor. You will usually see your counsellor for one hour per week but this may vary.

There is no time limit on your counselling, i.e. it can go on for as long as it is useful for you as decided by you and your counsellor. If we are not able to work with your issues we will try to refer you to more specialised counselling or other therapy.

Volunteers are welcome to use our computers for their own work whenever they are not required by a class or for staff or volunteer training. There are usually free computers and they are available at lunchtimes from 12.00 to 1.00 and on Thursday afternoons at 1.00 to 3.00. There is a crèche availablefor the afternoon session. The open access session can be booked in advance and free and supported by volunteers. There are charges for printing and laminating. This timetable may change during the year.

Nick
" I began volunteering in the IT classes at Chorlton Workshop about a year ago. I had myself been a student in the same classes in the previous few months. The warm and friendly atmosphere and the helpfulness of both the tutors and the volunteers made this a very enjoyable learning experience.

When I was asked if I would like to volunteer, it was something I had never considered or had any real knowledge of. However, as my time at the Workshop had been so good, I felt it was a way I could help other people to have a similarly positive learning experience. Now, a year on from that, I realise that volunteering is a two way process. It is much more than 'backing up' a professional tutor.

Not only have I enjoyed helping people to achieve their goals, I have gained so much, in all sorts of ways, from these students, and also from those I have been working with, due to their care and commitment to the people they are teaching. This has made the whole thing more rewarding than I had anticipated or could have hoped for. Oh, and by the way, did I mention how much fun it's been?"

Khin Thant Han
"One day at Chorlton Library in late 2000 something about ESOL classes on the notice board immediately caught my attention. I stopped to look and that was my introduction to Chorlton Workshop. Now I can say that I know the Workshop well for I've learned to appreciate what it is to all of us users, students and volunteers alike: it's where everyone is welcome, every need is given consideration, it's a place which maintains social cohesion as well as being an educational centre.

I remember the first time I went there to enquire about volunteering as I was interested in ESOL and felt I could make use of my training and experience. I walked into a busy, friendly atmosphere and was greeted warmly and made to feel a valuable member of the community. I've been a volunteer for nearly three years and have seen the place growing from strength to strength, helping more and more people. As for me personally, I've enjoyed volunteering and in doing so broadening my own teaching/learning experience both from ESOL classes and volunteer training sessions, meeting lovely people along the way and making friends across cultures.

Sometimes I feel so good when we from different continents sit together at a table poring over lessons, laughing at jokes, exchanging ideas, sharing food, to be a very much at ease with each other in our little corner of the world as opposed to the wider world of conflicts."

Deborah
"Increasing disability having forced me to search for a new line of work, I wanted to see if being a learning support worker suited me. So last December I started volunteering in the Basic ESOL class. The class had about eight enthusiastic students, from seven different countries, varying in age from 19 to 70. I assisted Lyndsey, the tutor, with group work, and one to one with the students.

I enjoyed the work so much that I was soon helping out at Basic ESOL classes three times a week. As I came to know the students I learned about their different cultures and customs, my knowledge of geography improved immensely, and I now know a variety of useful remedies used around the world for colds and sore throats! I think I learned as much from the students as they did from me. Everyone worked hard during the classes, which were always fun and I made some good friends.

I also wanted to try out teaching adult literacy, so once a week in the Basic Skills class I worked with a dyslexic student, improving her reading and writing. Her determination and hard work led to excellent progress and seeing her reading and writing with increased confidence was very rewarding. The Workshop helped me work more effectively by providing me with two excellent training courses, the ESOL Volunteer Training Day, and the Communication Skills course. These taught me skills which will also be useful in future jobs."