Who we are

Across Scotland it is agreed that the purpose of Community Learning and Development (CLD) is 'to empower people, individually & collectively, to make positive changes in their lives and in their communities, through learning', and that CLD should focus on establishing:

Improved life chances for people of all ages, through learning, personal development and active citizenship.
Stronger, more resilient, supportive, influential and inclusive communities.

The work of CLD is also guided by local and national policies.

About our service

In the summer of 2021, CLD merged with Health & Wellbeing, Community Safety and Employability and Skills to form a new Thriving Communities Service.

CLD Plan 2021-2024

The requirements for Community Learning and Development (Scotland) Regulations 2013 place a duty on South Ayrshire Council to work with our partners and communities to publish a 3-yearly CLD Plan. In September 2021, we published our most recent CLD Plan for 2021 - 2024. Our plan outlines our priorities for South Ayrshire over the next 3 years and demonstrates our clear focus on youth work and work with young people, employability, volunteering, adult and family learning, community empowerment and engagement, mental health and wellbeing as well as workforce development.

The main activities of the Community Learning and Development Service:

Community based adult learning - Supporting opportunities for learning and personal development skills including ICT, early years parenting, employability, and healthy lifestyles, building confidence and developing resilience. Most of our work includes accredited learning opportunities.
Adult Learning
- Adult Literacies - improving skills in reading, writing and counting, through one-to-one help or learning in small groups.
- English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) - support individuals to improve their language skills to gain confidence, to make new friends, to progress into employment, to gain support with accommodation and ultimately find support to settle into their new community.
Youth work - We provide a range of work with young people both in schools and through community-based activity. Young people build relationships, learn new skills, gain confidence, and achieve awards by getting involved in positive activities as well as having the opportunity to have a voice through youth forums, clubs, groups and projects
In addition, we work with Primary Schools to deliver confidence and resilience programmes and nurture programmes such as Roots of Empathy.
The Young Scot website and Young Scot Card provides information and services for young people 12-25 years.
Community Development & Engagement
- Support to community groups - increasing skills, confidence, networks and resources to meet the needs of local communities.
- Community centres - support to volunteer committees who manage these facilities on behalf of the local community.
- Community Engagement - engaging with our local communities on the issues that matter to them and work with them to develop action plans to address these issues.