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Regional secretary with the National Education Union
Why we’re backing Union Learn in the North of Tyne
The government has pulled funding for lifelong learning for working-class people — so together with the unions, we’ll do it ourselves, writes JAMIE DRISCOLL

SINCE 1998, the Union Learning Fund (ULF) has supported a network of 40,000 Union Learning Reps (ULRs) to help working people boost their job prospects, get greater job satisfaction and of course, earn more money.

That network of ULRs has proved especially effective at helping learners with few or no qualifications, because trade unions are best placed to access the hardest to reach learners and transform their working lives.

Over a quarter of a million people receive training and learning opportunities through their trade unions every year.

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