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The Abundancy Fund for Inclusive Learning
London, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Fund 20 life-changing learning experiences for people most impacted by COVID-19
Since 2017, we’ve run the Learning Marathon, a six month learning accelerator, proven to boost individuals’ network of relationships, their sense of purpose, skills and wellbeing.
As we launch our Learning Marathons for 2021, it feels more important than ever that these experiences are accessible to those who need them most. 2020 has shown that we need to work harder than ever to make inclusive access a reality.
That’s why we’re crowdfunding. We’re asking you to fund bursaries so that 20 people impacted by COVID-19 can take part in a life-changing learning experience in 2021.
Bursaries are a core part of our approach to inclusion. We’re hoping to raise £15,000 so that 20 people can access the Learning Marathon.
Case study: Azra Javed received a bursary for a Learning Marathon in 2018
Azra’s Learning Question: How do I set up my business and become independent?
“I have been a housewife all my life. Having kids, I found it was difficult for me to pursue my own dreams, so I realised my dreams through my children. With most of my kids grown up, I decided to start a business out of the pleasure I get from taking my youngest son to school everyday, by providing a transport service to others too.
I heard of the Learning Marathon through Amaliah. I wanted to use my time on the Learning Marathon to better understand how to use my own confidence to expand this little venture. The group helped me develop the skills I would need to be successful.”
The Learning Marathon is a six-month peer-learning accelerator that helps participants to tackle a steep learning curve, alongside a group of others doing the same. Participants might take on a professional challenge (eg. changing career), a personal challenge (eg. processing grief), or a societal challenge (eg. increasing human connection in a digital world).
Within our peer groups, participants pool skills, perspectives and networks to further their learning and development. Scientific research has shown that a person at the bottom of a hill will perceive the same slope as more manageable if they're standing next to a friend. They will perceive the hill as easier to climb when they're with someone they trust. Peer groups enact the same principles, supporting participants to tackle steep learning curves, together.
Since 2017, >130 people have completed the Learning Marathon. We’ve learned that it is a place for people to learn, unlearn, change behaviour, take action, heal and more.
When a peer group learns together over a substantial period of time, they make meaningful relationships that last beyond the end of the programme. The average Learning Marathon participant develops 9 new friendships, 7 new collaborators and 3 new paying clients (if they’re freelance).
Participants also boost their sense of purpose, their capabilities and their wellbeing. On average, participants report:
- a 40% increase in their feelings of being supported and invested in by others
- a 27% increase in their ability to direct their own learning
- and a 24% increase in feeling purposeful, useful and worthwhile day to day.
Further, we’ve witnessed a ‘ripple effect’ where Learning Marathon participants absorb the peer-led values they’ve experienced and replicate them elsewhere. In a recent survey, we found that 98% of participants had applied peer-led approaches, within their new projects and ventures, at work, in their communities or in their relationships with others.
Hear 2019 participants Reuben and Jess discuss the impact of their Learning Marathon:
For some, access to lifelong learning and education is no big deal. For everyone else, it's a big stretch.
To ensure that your donations create places for people who can gain the most, we have partnered with organisations whose communities are facing challenges as a result of the pandemic. Together we’ll offer the following bursaries:
- AC Diversity Bursary for young black Londoners and black men
- Amaliah Bursary for women of colour
- CoachBright Bursary for student volunteers
- Hustle Crew Bursary for a black woman or non-binary person on the Unravelling Time Learning Marathon
- Institute for the Future of Work Bursary for the people of Grimsby
- Leeds Beckett University Personal Development Bursary for recent graduates facing hardship in the current climate
- More in Common Bursary for community activists, offered by the Jo Cox Foundation
- Street Space Bursary for the people of Barking and Dagenham
- The Ubele Initiative Bursary for black people and people of colour
Additional bursaries will be made available for groups impacted by COVID-19 including but not limited to; young people; those in worse affected regions; those who have been made redundant; those on a lower income; the self-employed.
Enrol Yourself is an award-winning social enterprise redesigning lifelong learning by harnessing the power of peer groups.
We believe the Learning Marathon meets the needs of 21st Century learners, during these times of transition, disruption and change. We aim to uproot some of the principles that sit at the heart of adult education, instead creating experiences that focus on developing the whole person and their ability to thrive in a changing world.
This project successfully funded on 15th December 2020