Lucy looks back at her involvement in adult learning, through her connections with Wensum Lodge and the Women’s Employment Enterprise and Training Unit.
My role at WEETU
I was the Director of the Women’s Employment Enterprise and Training Unit (WEETU) from 2010-2013.
WEETU was a small but very successful and innovative not-for-profit organisation. It was set up in 1988 by Dr Ruth Pearson (a Professor at the University of East Anglia) and other women in response to a need for higher-level skills for women looking to move into employment, enterprise or further education. The organisation ran for 25 years, until 2013. We delivered a large number of courses, training and enterprise support programmes, sometimes at Wensum Lodge.
We also developed the Full Circle Fund, which received international recognition. The Fund was based on a model of peer learning, where women provided ‘social collateral’ for each other, endorsing them to repay small loans that could be used to support Enterprise startups.
When I started at WEETU, the coalition Government had just come in. It was a really challenging time, as about six months into my role we had a significant funding cut. My role was mainly about representing the organization, developing partnerships, making sure we had the funding to deliver our services, and overseeing a small team of staff.
WEETU activities at Wensum Lodge
We worked closely with Wensum Lodge on particular projects, including the ‘Community Learning Champions’ project, which we delivered in partnership with Norwich City Council. The project was to develop and support a network of around 25 community volunteers to be advocates for adult learning and help people to access it. We won an award from the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Learning, receiving it at Westminster from Vince Cable, then a Liberal Democrat peer. He told us a lovely story about his mother’s experience of going to adult learning classes when she wasn’t able to work outside of the home. Getting the award was very exciting for us, our working partners and the volunteers.
The volunteers did outreach work; it was an opportunity for them to chat to their peers and see if they were interested in adult learning, and if there were barriers to attendance – for example, would they like a ‘buddy’ to go with them? It was about socially connecting, and encouraging people to try something new. We also put on ‘taster courses’ for people in particular communities, and went to different community events to talk about our work.
It was a nice model. I still work in this field now and see quite a few iterations of it in the form of ‘life connectors’ and different sorts of community champion roles. We only had a year’s funding for the project, and tried unsuccessfully to get further funding – without it, this kind of thing falls away a bit. However, our approach was to build the network of volunteer champions so they could provide peer support for each other, so I’m sure they all went on to do other roles in the voluntary sector and their skills weren’t lost – they’re just being used in a slightly different way.
WEETU courses
While we were involved in partnership projects, our primary role was delivering training. One of our flagship courses was called ‘Is Enterprise for Me?’. We’d bring together a cohort of women interested in setting up their own businesses, and meet once or twice a month. It was an opportunity for them to explore what self-employment involved, and learn financial planning and budgeting skills. Some of them would be looking to set up a microbusiness, so they’d need to really understand how to budget and what extra funds they might need. They had training in developing a marketing plan, understanding their customer base and researching whether there was a market for their product or service. The course was also about developing self-confidence and self-awareness.
Another flagship course was called ‘Launch Pad’. This was for women who didn’t necessarily think enterprise was for them, but who wanted to return to work after a long break, perhaps because of domestic responsibilities. The course focused on developing their confidence, identifying transferable skills they may have gained as a parent or carer, and helping them prepare a CV. Sometimes it involved encouraging women to look at volunteering as a route into work.
WEETU also did quite a lot of work around accreditation of prior learning, although this was before my time there. We also got involved in things like the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, enterprise clubs and redundancy training programs, and we delivered some programs for the Department for Work and Pensions. There were also all sorts of other things you have to do when you run a not-for-profit organisation. We had to be versatile; the overall focus was all about supporting women to return to work.
After the courses we did impact analysis, which showed that WEETU businesses had much better longevity than other business start-ups in the city. I remember one lady who set up a household cleaning business that became very successful, I think she’s won awards.
WEETU funding and promotion
We received funding from all sorts of different sources. When I first started, our main funding was from the City Council’s Local Enterprise Growth Initiative.
We tried to provide open access to as many programs as possible, but the objectives of the organisation were very much to support women on low incomes and from areas of deprivation. So, we’d have to be selective, and part of that was the way we advertised the offer. We had a website and advertised at the Job Centre. We also took referrals from other voluntary organisations, that sort of thing, but quite a lot was done through targeted outreach. When I first started we employed three outreach workers, all former WEETU service users. It was their job to do outreach at school gates, with community groups and so on, identifying women who could benefit from our services.
Unfortunately, for many voluntary and community organisations, the funding is short-term. In some ways, we felt we were working in a hostile environment. After our big cut in Government funding in 2010, I knew when I came into the organisation that fundraising was going to be a priority in sustaining our business model. We were successful in securing some transition funding from the Government, which not many organisations in East Anglia did. However, we got to the point where we felt we were constantly living hand-to-mouth.
WEETU’s closure
WEETU closed down in 2013. It was a very difficult decision for the Board, and for the Chair in particular, but rather than gradually run down our resources we decided to close. We still had some funding in the Full Circle Loan Fund, which we gifted to the Norfolk Community Foundation, and we established the Norfolk Women’s Fund. However, we didn’t get many applications, even when we made changes to the grant criteria. I just don’t think there were many organisations out there working for women’s economic empowerment. The fund still exists but isn’t open currently.
More recently, we established a women’s advisory committee, allied with the City Council, to help influence local policy on getting women back into the workplace.
WEETU’s legacy
It’s interesting to see how far we’ve come since WEETU started in the late 1980s. During my time there I often had to make the case for why women needed a dedicated organisation like this. Arguably, mainstream provision should have catered for women’s economic empowerment more effectively, but at the time there was a real lack of access for women into well-paid jobs.
Many women with children weren’t able to get back into the workforce because there weren’t enough flexible working opportunities. Self-employment was often the only way to balance work and family commitments. It seems crazy thinking about it now, it’s still quite recent history, but that’s the level of discrimination women faced.
I think there’s been a huge change in some ways. There are much better flexible working opportunities and policies for women. There’s also a lot more awareness around sexual harassment and discrimination within the workforce, and protections for women. The COVID pandemic changed things considerably in that a lot of people, particularly in higher brackets, now have more flexibility to work from home. The pandemic highlighted the over-representation of women as ‘key workers’ but for many of them the pay and conditions remain poor. Caring responsibilities still fall mainly on women, which has an impact on their career prospects, future earning potential, pensions and wellbeing in later life. A key issue for the women’s advisory committee is about improving the provision of affordable childcare locally.
Working at Wensum Lodge
I grew up in Norwich and moved away to go to university. I then worked in London for a number of years before moving back to Norwich in 2008. My first job back in the city was in adult education as a business development manager. My role was to sell accredited training to employers, tailored to their needs. I think there was a bit of a disconnect between what adult education delivered and what local employers wanted, so it was an interesting role. I stayed there until I moved to WEETU in 2010.
I spent quite a lot of my time at County Hall, but I was based at Wensum Lodge. I think that was a really big part of my taking the job. I had such fond memories of the place, having done numerous courses there including art, upholstery, silversmithing course, printmaking, and a creative techniques accredited qualification. When I took the job I had visions of being able to just go and do art classes on a Friday afternoon, but of course that never actually happened!
I don’t think being based at Wensum Lodge had any influence on the kind of the training I was delivering, as it was employer focused. But participating in classes there did.
The Wensum Lodge site
Wensum Lodge was a beautiful place. Based down by the river, it really felt at the heart of the community. I remember having meetings in some of the rooms in the really old parts, many even the bit next to Dragon Hall – I forget now, it was a bit of a rabbit warren! In the main reception area, there would always be exhibitions by the various art classes. I enjoyed having a look, and would recognise a few names. I also remember going down to Jurnet’s Bar for someone’s leaving drinks, and for some music too. It was a little hidden treasure.
There were all sorts of stories of ghosts on the site, but I don’t think I saw any – perhaps I didn’t hang around long enough! Parts of the buildings felt a bit cold and creepy, so that may have fuelled some of the stories.
Closure of Wensum Lodge
Wensum Lodge’s closure felt really sad, but sort of inevitable, which is sad in itself.
There’s something about having a dedicated space – a kind of ‘room of one’s own’ – particularly for something like silversmithing or printmaking. There’s so many tools and equipment involved. Even if you have space at home, by the time you’ve got everything set up just for one day… well, you know what it’s like! Being able to go somewhere where everything’s there for you, it’s just wonderful. There are new printmaking places in Norwich, and it’s exciting to see enterprises like Print to the People establishing themselves, but we’ve lost a really important community asset in Wensum Lodge.
It’s a real shame we couldn’t have found some way of repurposing it for the community. I think for a time there were plans to keep it as a community venue, a creative enterprise hub. It could have been a real ‘cultural quarter’ of Norwich. I don’t know why that fell through, though I dare say it came down to money. I think I’ve become a bit cynical and jaded, but I still work in the voluntary and community sector and the ongoing funding challenges are huge.
Wensum Lodge’s legacy
I’d say there’s a real artistic and crafts legacy from Wensum Lodge. I don’t think that really exists elsewhere, other than through individuals and private practices. There’s some beautiful new studio complexes in Norwich, and you’ve got St. Mary’s Works and so on, but there’s something about adult learning and accessible evening classes for people who, for whatever reason, didn’t have such opportunities growing up.
A lot of the classes at Wensum Lodge would have been done by women, and there was a real sense of community in that. I think a legacy persists, as I’m sure there were a lot of ‘serial attenders’ on those courses! Craft is such an important heritage skill, and there’s a strong history of women being successful in crafts, even though it’s not always been recognised as an art form.
Wensum Lodge was a really welcoming place. Classes wouldn’t have been affordable for everyone, but there was public funding in place to help those who couldn’t afford the fees. There’s something so democratic about turning up at an adult education class and seeing a real mix of people from all sorts of backgrounds, experiences and ethnicities. It always felt very inclusive. To have somewhere where you can go and meet people you wouldn’t perhaps meet otherwise is really valuable.
There’s a perception that adult education is a particular type of learning, but that wasn’t my experience. I think something’s lost when you don’t have these kind of accessible and affordable courses. However adult education continues to operate, it has to have some kind of physical place. It becomes part of establishing the identify of an organisation.
Wensum Lodge courses have left a legacy, but the place itself is lost heritage. In many ways, it was the identity of adult education. So yes, it’s a real loss to Norwich and Norfolk.
Lucy Hogg talking to WISEArchive in Norwich on 10th January 2025. © 2025 WISEArchive. All Rights Reserved.
