Adult learners will lose out if education service is ousted

Published: 10 June, 2011

• I AM distressed at the news that the departments of Westminster Adult Education Service which operate at Amberley Centre will have to find new accommodation from Easter next year.

I am a Westminster pensioner and have been attending ceramics classes at Amberley for several years. 

These classes operate within the 3D Art and Design department which, in my opinion, is second to none in London. The teaching is excellent and we benefit from high quality facilities enabling students to develop new skills and confidence. 

The annual exhibition at the SW1 Gallery in Victoria Street (starting on June 15 this year) is the culmination of this year’s work throughout the department. 

I hope West End Extra readers will visit it and understand the anxiety students feel at the threat to classes which can produce such professional work.

Amberley Centre also provides a wide range of other courses for all ages and educational backgrounds and serves a diverse local community. 

It is likely that many of these students will be unable to continue if alternative premises are any distance away. 

There is a well-used creche and many parents need to be close to local schools for their older children.

I would urge West End Extra readers to support our petition at: www.gopetition.com/ petitions/save-westminster-adult-education-services-amberley-coll.html

Even if alternative affordable premises are found, the two-week Easter holiday will not give sufficient time for equipment to be moved and re-installed.

CLARISSA DORNER
New Cavendish Street, W1