An Idea Comes to Fruition...

In February 2001, a group of trade unionists at Cricklewood bus garage thought what a great idea it would be to enable Metroline employees to learn a new skill by using the one thing that they had plenty of: buses. By April 2001 the idea for the Learning Bus had not only been conceived, but it had also been proposed, bid for, and put into action. Key players in the initiative were bus-drivers and trade union representatives from Metroline Bus Company, as well as the company itself, who in turn agreed to provide a bus a driver and running costs to make the project happen. Metroline also established a working relationship with newly appointed Union Learning Representatives, whose role it is to encourage staff to engage with learning and promote learning in the workplace.

What resulted was a significant partnership initiative involving the Transport and General Workers Union, the TUC, the College of North East London (CoNEL) and Transport for London as well as Metroline Buses Plc.

CoNEL supplies the Bus with computers and the tutors to teach them, thereby giving learners the opportunity to achieve accreditation where appropriate.Transport for London have supported the project by raising awareness among other transport employers of the benefits of learning a new skill using the Learning Bus. The project has from the outset had the unswerving support of London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, who can be seen here on board with Tom' O'Callaghan.

But how to spread the word to the workers of the nine Metroline Garages? This was no mean feat – the use of a double-decker bus with ten PCs and a tutor with the option to achieve a recognised IT qualification was to go up for grabs – for free! In these early days, a learning needs analysis was therefore carried out by South East region of the TUC (SERTUC), and with the cooperation of the TGWU they promoted the new training opportunities to hundreds of Metroline drivers, cleaners, cooks, and engineers throughout the company.

Launching into Action...

On May 16th 2002, the Learning bus was launched by Minister for Education and Skills, John Healey at the Department for Education and Skills. This was followed by a local launch at Willesden Library hosted by local MP for Brent East, Paul Daisley, in July 2002. 

The Learning Bus has also been present for major public events such as the Queen's Golden Jubilee visit to Willesden Garage, and the Queen's Jubilee party held for local children at Cricklewood Garage during the 2002 Jubilee Year. It was also a mobile drop in classroom at the 2003 Respect Festival in the millennium Dome. 

In the future, the project aims to take the bus into the local community to aid job recruitment and to help break down barriers in areas where cultural and ethnic groups can be encouraged to learn. In introducing learning right into the heart of the workplace, The Learning Bus hopes to build on the culture of learning already begun, and endeavour to continue to give staff the opportunity to develop their abilities by making it easier to fit learning in with the shift patterns that are typical to the operation of public transportation.  Work with the trade unions and other Partners will be a mainstay of the project to ensure that benefits already gained can continue to be enhanced.

Have a look at our Picture Gallery for a tour of how the bus went from a near wreck to the slick mobile classroom that it is today. In the main the funding for this has come from the DfES, who have funded a project worker to oversee the entire project, full refurbishment of the bus and its subsequent publicity. Tyres were supplied free of charge by Dunlop, and stationery and basic equipment on board are supplied by Tara cleaning.

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