Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning

Who was Helen Dowie?

Helen Dowie was involved in the Trade Union Movement in Fife for most of her adult life. She worked in Rosyth Dockyard for about 20 years and was active within the civil service unions. Through her union, Helen organised the yard, organised and campaigned in many initiatives, and supported many workers. She took the union into the community through the organisation of the Rosyth festival and music events to highlight campaigns for Chilean workers and other important union campaigns.

Helen, along with her partner Mike Morris, started the Trades Council News in Fife. (See Bulletin 23, Bulletin 43 and Bulletin 85) By writing, printing, editing, and distributing the newssheet, Helen and Mike kept union members involved and aware of the issues and also spread the word more widely throughout Fife. Helen and Mike made many solid relationships and friendships through their union involvement.

Helen worked with Mike and many other individuals to support the development of education and learning in Scotland. She was a key player in supporting the development of the lifelong learning agenda that union members know today. Helen worked to pull down financial backing to support unions in developing the role of the Union Learning Representative.

Helen's life was devoted to supporting others through the trade union movement and her death at a young age was mourned by trade unionists throughout Fife and Scotland. This annual award was founded in 2006 to commemorate Helen's lifetime achievements in lifelong learning and to recognise other outstanding trade unionists who continue to demonstrate their commitment to union values and lead the learning movement forward in Scotland.

Past Recipients

Many nominations are submitted to the STUC each year for the Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning.

2011
The 6th Annual STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning recipient was a team of the Communication Workers’ Union Learning Reps at Glasgow Royal Mail Centre in Springburn. The recipients are Brian Regan, Stuart Armstrong, William Ferry, Derek Frizzle, David Hainey, Ian Johnstone and Andy Ross, who are all postal workers. There are hundreds of workers on three shifts at the Royal Mail Centre, and shift patterns can often cause problems for the provision of learning opportunities to workers. However, these ULRs support learning within the workplace at all hours of the day. The ULRs have conducted learning surveys for more than 600 members of staff. They have secured funding for almost 400 places on accredited learning courses on a range of topics, including Modern Languages and IT skills. To help prepare their colleagues for the mounting pressures of the current economy, the ULRs arranged courses on money matters. They also arranged everyday skills courses on creative writing and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). The team was presented with the 6th Annual Award at the STUC Annual Congress in Ayr in April 2011 by Anne Douglas, Chair of the Scottish Union Learning Board.

2010
The 5th Annual STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning recipient was a team of Unite and UNISON Learning Representatives at Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) in Glasgow. The award recipients are: Gerry Hastings of UNISON and Brian Stewart, Sonny Singh, Harry Copland, Ian Findlay, John Lennon and Brian Conner of Unite. In September 2008, Unite and UNISON negotiated and signed a learning agreement with SPT. Learning and training have been incorporated into all the collective bargaining structures, and the policy negotiated by the reps - including 50% time off for learning - has been mainstreamed into company policy. SPT covers a wide geographical area and the ULRs have arranged the learning required on-site at shift-friendly times, including courses on night shift. All courses have been delivered free of charge to the workers, and have included vocational as well as social learning. Due to progression routes, some union members have been on two or three courses. In the past year, there have been 2,138 hours of learning: 1,528 in company time, and 610 in the learners’ own time. Most of the learning takes place at Broomloan Depot in Glasgow, which is where the subway trains are maintained. Learning also takes place at Buchanan Bus Station and Consort House (SPT Headquarters and Admin Building). The team was presented with the 5th Annual Award at the STUC Annual Congress in Dundee in April 2010 by First Minister Alex Salmond.

2009
The 4th Annual STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning recipient was James Lillis. James is a Unite Union Learning Representative at First Glasgow, and he lives in Govan. In his role, James makes learning opportunities accessible to all employees at First Glasgow. There are a large number of Eastern European migrant workers within the bus depot, so James learned to speak Polish. This has enabled him to help the migrant workers, and these workers return the favour by studying “Glaswegian”. James runs the workplace learning centre where he promotes participation in lifelong learning through short story competitions and setting up various literacy and numeracy initiatives. On his own initiative, James designed, developed and runs a course that shows the hazards a driver can encounter on bus routes in Glasgow. The course also explores issues such as vehicle checks and customer care. As a result of his commitment, Polish workers beginning work with First Glasgow actively approach the union to join. James was presented with the 4th Annual Award at the STUC Annual Congress in Perth in April 2009 by Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning.

2008
The 3rd Annual STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning recipient was Audrey McJimpsey. Audrey is a Community Union Learning Representative at RSBi Blindcraft in Springburn, Glasgow, and she lives in Carluke. Audrey has been very active within the trade union movement since 1986, and currently supports local initiatives to promote union activity, especially union learning. She represents 100 members in her role as a Learning Rep within RSBi. A large percentage of the workforce is disabled at RSBi Blindcraft and Audrey has encouraged more than 75% of the workers to take up learning opportunities. Audrey was presented with the 3rd Annual Award at the STUC Annual Congress in Inverness in April 2008 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

2007
The 2nd Annual STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning recipient was Rachael Bonner. Rachael is a PCS Regional Learning Officer for HM Revenue and Customs in Cumbernauld. Rachael has been pivotal in assisting PCS Scotland Learning Services in developing a sustainable learning structure within all of the HMRC branches in Scotland. She leads a team of over 60 ULRs, who support and organise learning for 11,000 union members. The award was presented by the then First Minister Jack McConnell MSP at the STUC Annual Congress held in Glasgow in April 2007.

2006
The 1st Annual STUC Helen Dowie Award for Lifelong Learning recipient was Helen Douglas. Helen suffered from polio as a child and is disabled as a result. She was chosen to receive this award because although she had an extremely negative experience of education and developed tremendous psychological barriers to learning, Helen is straight talking and pro-active, and works hard to break down stigma and physical barriers to learning while negotiating with providers to meet the needs of members of Unite: Amicus and Community, the two unions in Remploy Clydebank. Largely due to Helen's hard work, 90% of the workforce in Remploy Clydebank have taken up learning. Remploy Clydebank employs people with a variety of physical barriers to learning, including blindness, deafness and access. Helen has encouraged those who perhaps would not have had the self-esteem or courage to partake in learning. Helen was presented with the award by the then Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Allan Wilson MSP at the STUC Annual Congress held in Perth in April 2006.