GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

constituent colours. Together we were moved to tears by an incredible poet,

treated to some planned and impromptu music. We drank, sang and laughed

until the early hours. This is what I have learned this weekend: Don’t believe

everything you read in the news. Knowledge is power: withholding or

manipulating it is a form of imprisonment and a violation of a basic human right;

Passion is a form of love and shows its beauty in many mediums, including

politics, poetry and music; If you have been given a voice, use it to tell your

story. You might just inspire someone else to do something amazing; Love,

laugh and be kind every day; Restrict drinking to once a week if you can; If you

believe in something you feel impossible make it possible by making it

happen”. I do not think you can get any better feedback than that.

If I may, Chair, just touch on the train the trainer level 4 course. I have been

involved with that and I know it has already been mentioned a couple of times,

but it is designed to help affiliates engage with their members and reps at a

different level within the learning agenda through paid officials, for example,

which is important going forward, as funding, as we have already spoken

about, from the Government is diminishing slowly but surely. I know our own

union’s learning fund has seen a significant drop in funds this time, which is a

huge amount and has a huge impact on a union of our size and as much as we

have the GFTU for our reps’ courses, we will at some point need to look at

alternatives to the union learning fund courses that we operate and activities

that we run.

We have run one successful course so far of the train the trainer level 4 at

Quorn Grange Hotel with a cohort of PCS officers and, as Mike said, we are

looking to run another one in early September. Initially there was some

hesitance from the group around their abilities to teach others and how were

they going to be trained to teach in such few sessions, but, to be clear, the train

the trainers course is not about teaching a group of officials or people to

become English teachers! It is a course designed to empower trade unionists

to share their own knowledge and experience with others in a structured way,

to facilitate discussions with a group of people around a specific topic, such as

organising, the media, a current campaign and encourage them to engage,

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