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The Corporation

Posted: 09/01/17

College courses pop up in Costa Coffee stores

West Nottinghamshire College has joined forces with Costa Coffee and PopUp College to give people the chance to enjoy courses over a cuppa.

Pop in to Costa for a cuppa and a college course

From next month, Costa Coffee stores across the area will be working with the college to host evening classes in a range of subjects, including Introduction to Sugarcraft and Introduction to Vintage crafts.

The initiative is part of a collaboration with PopUp College, designed to give adults the chance to learn new skills in a welcoming and social environment and is aimed at people in the local community who want to learn a new skill or rediscover the world of education.

Led by entrepreneur and education consultant Jason Elsom, PopUp College has partnered with the college and Costa Coffee to deliver a range of course programmes and provide ongoing support to members of the community. The courses on offer are:

  • Introduction to Beauty in Sutton Costa store
  • Introduction to Sugarcraft in Mansfield Costa store and Worksop Costa store
  • Introduction to Vintage Crafts in Sutton Costa store
  • Introduction to Wire Jewellery in Mansfield Costa store
  • Introduction to German in Nottingham Friar Lane Costa store
  • Introduction to Makaton in Chesterfield Costa store.

Jason Elsom, chief executove of PopUp College, said: “At a time when adult education is under threat, we wanted to give people the chance to come in one night a week and learn a new skill, have some fun and also socialise at the same time. The Costa store creates a welcoming environment for adults who want to learn, but are put off by the idea of a traditional college classroom.”

Lesley Roberts, vice principal for business development and employer engagement at West Nottinghamshire College said: “We’re delighted to be hosting just a few of our popular community learning programmes through Costa Coffee and PopUp College. I think this new way of engaging in courses with a ‘cuppa’ will prove really successful.

“One of the many benefits of this kind of flexible learning is that it enables individuals to include education into their busy weekly schedules.

“Maybe once people have had a taste of this flexible way of learning in a venue such as Costa, they may be inspired to enrol on future college courses.”

Sandy Gourlay, charity and community manager at Costa Coffee, said: “We’re delighted to support Jason and PopUp College with his exciting new initiative to create accessible courses to engage adults in education and teach people new skills. Come down to your local Costa store to find out what’s on offer and sign up.”

For more information on PopUp College or to sign up to courses in Nottinghamshire please follow this link: https://thisis.popupcollege.co.uk/listing-category/nottinghamshire/

And for courses in Derbyshire these can be found at https://thisis.popupcollege.co.uk/listings/introduction-to-makaton-43025790/

About PopUp College

Founded in Cambridge in 2015, PopUp College is the brainchild of global education leader Jason Elsom. PopUp College aims to not only place learning back at the heart of the community, but transform the experience for many disconnected from learning in a traditional classroom.