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Our Movement

Our Movement

Learning at the heart of the community

Southport Learning Town is a not-for-profit collaboration that brings together education providers, local businesses, voluntary organisations and community groups. Its objective is to contribute to a brighter future for Southport and the surrounding areas by promoting and developing learning opportunities for everyone.
At its heart, Southport Learning Town advocates for inclusion, empathy, tolerance and understanding through learning. When lifelong learning is seen as a possibility for everyone, new knowledge and skills can be acquired for personal benefit and for the benefit of family and the wider community. We are not limited by geography and welcome the involvement of people and organisation from outside Southport who wish to support our project.

The Initiative
The Southport Learning Town initiative developed within the community and was initially steered by a committee drawn from local learning providers, bringing together representatives from the Southport University Extension Society (SUES), Southport College, Edge Hill University, The Arts Society Southport, Southport u3a, schools, early learning, businesses and Sefton Council.

As new organisations have become members, the management committee has expanded to incorporate a wider range of experience and expertise. 
The Constitution of Southport Learning Town is subject to annual review. The current version is here:
PDF DOCUMENT HERE
At its heart, Southport Learning Town seeks to establish lifelong learning for all, whatever your age, background or circumstances
What we are doing
Following a successful launch event and Learning Festival in 2025 we are developing this website as a platform to share information about organisations as a resource for the people of Southport and to promote interactions between organisations.
The Events section provides a listing of learning opportunities and links to the relevant organisations.
In the Resources section we are collecting examples of learning ideas that can be freely shared and used within the community. We will also promote specific events and activities such as our contribution to the Books Alive programme for the 2026 Cultural Event organised by InvestSefton.

Join Us
We welcome applications from organisations that would like to be involved in developing and delivering learning opportunities in Southport and the surrounding areas.
For informal discussions please contact:
treasurer.southportlearningtown@gmail.com
The on-line application form for an organisation or business membership is available here:
MEMBERSHIP FORM

UNESCO

The aims of the Southport Learning Town collaboration are:

  • To mobilise resources in all sectors to promote inclusive learning
  • To revitalize learning in families and across communities
  • To foster a culture of learning throughout life.

These aims are similar to those recognised by the UNESCO Learning City programme

https://www.uil.unesco.org/

When the Southport Learning Town programme is fully developed, we aspire to seek UNESCO recognition for Southport.