Halton Housing Funds Video Promoting Adult Learning at Kingsway Learning Centre

Halton Housing has funded a promotional video showcasing adult learning courses at Kingsway Learning Centre in Widnes. The £800 grant, from the housing association’s Destination Kingsway and Stewards programme, commissioned local creative organisation Mako Create / Digital Arts Box to produce the film, which features real learners and tutors.

The video was published on 3 July and is intended to raise awareness of what Halton Adult Learning offers, and to make the learning centre feel approachable to residents who have not been near formal education for years.

What Halton Adult Learning offers

The service runs a range of provision aimed at adults, including:

• English and maths — including Functional Skills qualifications, which are the standard alternative route to GCSE-equivalent certification for adults
• Digital skills — from basic computer use through to more advanced qualifications
• Employability support — CV writing, interview preparation, and job search help
• Wellbeing programmes
• Vocational training
• Professional development — for residents already in work looking to progress

Much adult education provision of this kind is free or heavily subsidised for people who meet certain conditions — typically those without a full Level 2 qualification, those on low incomes, or those receiving certain benefits. Fees vary by course and by individual circumstance, so the practical step for anyone interested is to ask the service directly what a specific course would cost them rather than assuming it is unaffordable.

Why a video

The barrier to adult learning is rarely the timetable. For adults who left school without qualifications, or who had a poor experience of education, the obstacle is walking through the door — the assumption that a classroom will be intimidating, that everyone else will already know more, or that they are too old to start.

The video addresses that directly by showing the learning environment at Kingsway Learning Centre and featuring people from the local area talking about their own experience. Some describe gaining qualifications or securing employment; others talk about changing career direction, building confidence, or meeting people.

Using real learners rather than actors is the point. A resident recognising someone from their own neighbourhood in the film is a stronger argument than any prospectus.

The funding behind it

The £800 came from Halton Housing’s Destination Kingsway and Stewards programme, which supports activities promoting Kingsway Learning Centre as a community hub and encouraging residents to use the services based there.

Eight hundred pounds is a modest sum by the standards of public communications work, and commissioning a local creative organisation rather than an outside agency kept the spend in the borough. Mako Create / Digital Arts Box is based locally.

The same Destination Kingsway and Stewards fund paid for the Healthy Families nutrition programme run at Ditton Community Centre through June and July, which illustrates how the money is being spread across small, specific interventions rather than concentrated in a single scheme.

How to get started

Course information for Halton Adult Learning is at halton.gov.uk/adultlearning, which lists what is running and how to enrol. Kingsway Learning Centre is on Kingsway in Widnes.

Adults considering a return to study have more than one route locally. Riverside College, also on Kingsway, runs adult courses for those aged 19 and over, Access to Higher Education diplomas for people intending to go on to university, and remote e-learning options for those who cannot attend in person. The college’s adult enrolment runs through August and September.

Anyone unsure which route fits should ask for a guidance conversation rather than picking a course from a list. Both providers offer this, and it usually saves a wasted term.

What to watch next

September is when the main adult learning intake begins at both Halton Adult Learning and Riverside College, so enquiries made in August are well timed. The Destination Kingsway and Stewards programme continues to award small grants to community projects in the area, and Halton Housing publishes what it has funded on its social impact pages.

Further reading and sources

• New Video Highlights Adult Learning Opportunities Across Halton — Halton Housing, 3 July 2026
• Halton Adult Learning — courses, fees, and enrolment
• Destination Kingsway — Halton Housing
• Adult Courses — Riverside College, Widnes