The Birth of Communitas
Until the mid
1990s, the interests of Community (then the Iron and Steel Trades
Confederation) in relation to the learning agenda were largely confined to the
provision of standard trade union education courses for full time and lay
officials. Restructuring within the steel industry resulting in large numbers
of redundancies and increasing employment insecurity for steelworkers however,
led to a growing realisation within the union of the need for basic skills
training and accredited courses that would enable members to develop
transferable skills and thus their employability beyond the steel
industry. Such concerns became all the more urgent with the ending of the
European Coal and Steel Community ISERBS scheme which funded the re-training of
steel workers, and in 1997 Communitas EU Ltd was established (as Steel
Partnership Training) in order to address these issues.
Core Communitas activities have therefore related to the provision of
redundancy support services and lifelong learning opportunities. Previous
Communitas initiatives have received financial support from a wide range of
sources including:
- Union Learning Funds (English Scottish and Welsh)
- Department of Trade and Industry Partnership at Work Fund
- Welsh Assembly
- Single Regeneration Budget
- Rapid Response Fund
- Skills Development Fund
- Regeneration Zone Funds
- Regional Development Agencies
- European Social Fund (ESF) Objectives 1 and 3