Signing the Learning Agreement at the Princess Alexandra
Hospital Harlow - April 2008
So the day had
finally arrived. All the invitations had been sent, the catering
had been arranged and the venue organised. Today the Trust was to
sign the Skills Pledge and Lifelong Learning Agreement. Wednesday
5th December 2007 had been highlighted in my diary for some months
and now it was actually here.
The weeks leading up to the event had been full of setbacks.
Trying to get comments on the agreement from six unions and for
them to decide who was to attend and sign the agreement was a task
in itself! In the end only one was unable to attend but we arranged
for this to happen at a future event. At the last minute the venue
which had been booked was not ready for use as it was part of a
rebuilding project and had overrun the completion date. Luckily I
had a contact in an area which runs seminars and hoped they would
have space to fit us in at short notice. In fact they had two rooms
we could use which worked very well with one for the refreshments
and one for the event itself.
Now everything was ready, I just had my presentation to do!
People started arriving and enjoying the buffet lunch provided but
I couldn’t eat a thing. At 12.30pm they all gathered and the event
was under way. It was introduced by the Chief Workforce Officer and
I felt confident in the Trusts support. Next up was the Skills for
Health Programme Manager who spoke about the Leitch report and the
Skills Pledge. This set the scene for why we were actually holding
the event and what it was all about.
It was followed by a presentation by Unison on the Union
Learning Fund project that was being run in the Hospital. Now I was
on! I had written the basis of the presentation at my Unite the
Union - union learning rep (ULR) training course and had just made
a few changes to aim it at local management. I had gone over it
quickly earlier in the day so pretty sure of what I had to say.
Would I look OK? Could I work the laptop so I looked confident?
Would I stumble over my words? I was introduced by Sam Leigh my
Unite the Union Regional Learning Organiser who gave a bit of
background on ULRs and then I was on to speak on the Role of the
ULR. I knew most of the audience and when I saw a friendly face
relaxed and just got on with it. I found I didn’t really need my
notes as things just came to me as I went along and before I knew
it I was at the end. The Head of Training then spoke about how the
Trust would be supporting the Learning Agreement and the Skills
Pledge but I must admit I hardly noticed what he said as I was so
relieved my bit was over. Then the signing took place and
photographs taken. The day had gone without a hitch, now lead me to
the sandwiches!!
Sylvia Hayes - Unite the Union (Amicus Section) ULR
