Enjoy Learning founder steps down as he retires for the second time

Tom Smith who founded Enjoy Learning in 2006 after retiring from his role as the programme manager for visual and performing arts at Bolton College is stepping down at the age of 76.

He had been at Bolton College for more than 30 years after which he wanted to fill a gap in the adult learning sector.

Mr Smith, from Belmont, set up the not-for-profit organisation, Enjoy Learning, to provide adult classes in areas such as art and languages. The courses continue to run in community buildings.

Mr Smith said: “This is my second retirement; I ran a big department at Bolton College the visual and performing arts department for many years and I first retired around 2006 and at the time adult education funding was disappearing.

“So, I thought well we can do this without the funding and provide quite a good service and so I came out of retirement and set it up and I have been doing that now for around 17 years until I said I have to retire now.

“Enjoy Learning was set up to provide adult classes and we thought we could provide classes such as arts and languages from church halls and it was set up at the end of 2006 with about three classes running at the time.

Tom Smith is retiring at 76 (Image: Aisha Momoniat)“In 2007 it went up to about 15 classes and it then expanded right up until the Covid pandemic when we had about 40 classes across the town.

“The pandemic hit us a little bit, but we were fairly well-resourced, and we managed to overcome it and since then we have been picking back up and it is time for someone else to look at expansion for the future.

“Each year we have had about 1,000 enrolments over the course of 17 years that is quite a lot of people we have made a difference to.

“I am leaving but there is a future to Enjoy Learning with new classes and new experiences for people to join in the future.”

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Mr Smith added: “I am 76 now and I am doing other things as well, I have set up a group in Belmont and I have other interests too, I enjoy art and I am learning Italian, and I want to try some of the classes that Enjoy Learning run, for myself.

“I paint semi-professionally, I exhibit work and so it seems the right time to retire as I have got more time to focus on my art now I hope.

“I also need to spend more time with my grandchildren and my daughter lives in London so I would like to go and visit her more.

“My family are all very surprised that I have retired.”

Tom Smith (Image: Aisha Momoniat)Tom said he would describe his career as ‘interesting, varied and enjoyable’.

He said: “It has just been a pleasure, I have been extremely lucky in my 54 years of teaching, I have had some really great students.

"My career has been interesting, varied and very enjoyable, it has been quite hard work but very enjoyable.

“The real pleasure has been running the classes, I really enjoyed being in the company of the people who attended the classes.

“I started working many years ago and fell into education by accident and I just got the bug for working with people who were interested in adult learning.

“I have worked in many different areas within education, but I was always interested in the adult education side of things with people coming back to learning because they wanted to and seeing it as a social activity as well as an education activity."

Enjoy Learning is a diverse and inclusive organisation, delivering enjoyable daytime education courses to adults across Bolton and its neighbouring areas, including Bury, Wigan, Preston and Manchester.

Enjoy Learning provides high quality teaching with something for everyone.

Subjects include: Art and Crafts, (Acrylics, Watercolour painting, flower arranging), Languages (Spanish, Italian, French and German - beginners through to advanced), History (Exploring family history and Lancashire history this year) and Music Appreciation.

Courses are designed to be affordable to give maximum access to all.

They take place at a number of local sites: The Triangle Centre, Chorley Old Road; Friends Meeting House, Silverwell Street and Horwich Community Centre.

Classes are primarily for enjoyment with no examinations and, aside from learning, they provide an opportunity for socialising and making new friends.

For more information and the opportunity to enrol on the courses commencing early October 2024, go to: https://www.enjoy-learning.org.uk/

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on X @chloewjourno.