A special awards ceremony has been held at Pembrokeshire College to celebrate the achievements of the numerous adult education courses that have been delivered in village halls and community centres throughout the county and to launch two new community-based learning schemes. The first successful participants in a return-to-work scheme for lone parents and carers also received achievement certificates during the event.

A total of 200 guests attended the event, which included information exhibitions from 20 organisations involved in delivering and organising community-based courses and exhibitions of past students' work.

Representatives of many communities throughout the county received certificates from Clr. Huw George in recognition of the work they have done to develop and promote learning locally. Local tutors were presented certificates in recognition of the work they had done in delivering adult education classes in village halls and local facilities throughout the county.

During the evening, guests were superbly entertained by the Quaynotes Choir, introduced by compere, Carol Cole, under musical director Sharron Lusher, assistant principal, Pembrokeshire College.

Many success stories have come from the development of these community classes - such as full-time carer Susan McKehon, from Pentlepoir, Saundersfoot, who originally enrolled on a STEP course having heard about it through a carer's group.

Susan joined the project's 'Food from Farm to Fork' course and during visits to local food producers was inspired to take photographs and this led to a digital photography course. Susan is now building a portfolio and has plans to become a freelance photographer, having had some of her photographs published.

While celebrating the success of STEP, the college also launched two new community schemes - STEP Forward and mCommunity at the event. Both schemes offer learning opportunities close to people's homes and aim to respond quickly to public demand and represent a further development in the provision of learning locally.

More than 50 communities have already enjoyed the benefits of learning together in village halls, community centres and training rooms across Pembrokeshire. The great success of the project has ensured that the work commenced through funding will continue through STEP Forward.

Dr. Geoff Elliott, the college's director of skills, said: "We are pleased to be able to continue this valuable work which reaches deep into communities and supports people close to their homes.

"The end of the funding would have had an adverse effect on communities and therefore we have decided to continue much of the work by asking those attending to contribute to the cost.

"We are working to make classes affordable and will make every effort to work with community halls to continue to bring learning out to the community."

Dr. Elliott also points out that "the environmental benefits of a tutor travelling out to villages rather than groups coming to the college in Haverfordwest are immense. Since the project began we estimate that over 600,000 miles have been saved by this model of delivery. This saves time, money and the carbon footprint of Pembrokeshire people."

The other project launched - mCommunity - in partnership with Gower College Swansea and the Telecommunications Software and Systems Group (TSSG) - aims to engage those adults who are not in employment, education or training by using mobile technology to help establish positive social networks. mCommunity will also be working with small businesses to pilot how technology can improve their business effectiveness. The project will pilot the delivery of learning, skills and qualifications to improve employment and educational opportunities through mobile technology.

Dr. Geoff Elliott said: "The mCommunity project is an exciting, innovative project which aims to help the most vulnerable and hard to reach. The use of mobile technology is ever increasing and mCommunity is responding to this demand. We are working with TSSG a technology company based in Waterford, Ireland, to develop smartphone applications that will make learning more accessible and less daunting for our students."

Sean Lyons, project manager at TSSG, said: "This is a great opportunity to apply the latest social media and mobile technologies for the learning market to facilitate the positive engagement of these communities."

To find out more information about the project, contact [email protected]">[email protected] or go to our website http://www.mcommunity.org.uk">www.mcommunity.org.uk

The mCommunity project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Ireland Wales programme (INTERREG 4A).

The STEP project is part funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EARFD) for Wales which is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government and the European Union.

The community team at the college would be happy to hear from community groups who would be interested in having a class in their area.

Please call Janet Davies on 01437 753 246 or email [email protected]">[email protected] or visit http://www.pembs.ac.uk/step">www.pembs.ac.uk/step