Why a new social care school will run on barters

A project in Glasgow is offering lessons in social care provision – in exchange for everything from pot plants to a kitchen sink

It’s not often you can use potted plants to pay for lessons on speaking with confidence, or learn about how to make your care home a key part of the local community in exchange for a kitchen sink.

However, at Trade School Glasgow, where barter, not money, is the name of the game, you can do just that. In return you get to learn about different aspects of social care and social care provision.

The concept is simple: teachers come up with a wishlist of items, which students who want to attend then bring along to the class.

So, for example, Change Your Life in Two Hours! An Introduction to Life Coaching – in which pupils can find out how to motivate themselves to start making positive changes to their lives – is paid for by tea, coffee, flipcharts and a surprise for the teacher.

Run by social care charity Social Care Ideas Factory, the school is the first of its kind in Scotland, and the idea is that anyone will be able to teach a class and, equally, lessons are free to attend by all.

We’re hoping that by creating spaces where people can come and learn about subjects that are often in demand but not widely available to those who can’t afford to pay, we will be able to build stronger, more involved communities across Glasgow.

Despite the school not officially opening for business until the end of the month, the amount of interest that we have received from the public and other social care providers has been phenomenal, both in terms of teaching and also attending classes.

For many charities and care providers, night classes, training courses and workshops are luxuries that simply cannot be afforded and so the idea of having classes that remove money from the equation has really captured their imaginations.

Our school is also starting at a time when providers are looking to promote the work they do in communities and market themselves to potential services users in different and unique ways. This due to the launch of the self-directed support bill in Holyrood in March this year.

The idea behind the school has been adapted from New York, where the first trade school was founded three years ago. Where Trade School Glasgow differs from its contemporaries though is in its specific focus on social care and community development.

So far, some of the classes up for grabs include Who Cares? We Care!, which will take place in Ashgill Care Home in the north of the city and will look at how the care home is run, and Speaking With Confidence, which will offer tips and techniques about how to be an effective speaker. There will also be the chance for people to learn about end of life planning, brokerage, advocacy and social media as well as a social care providers cafe, which offers an opportunity for organisations to come together, swap ideas and build relationships.

Lessons will be held in the evening until December. Our hope is that as the term progresses, classes will grow organically as people who come along to learn then become inspired to teach. As the school develops and grows into 2013, our aim is that teachers will be able to localise their classes to match the demands of specific areas within the city.

As a charity, we work hard to bring fresh ideas into social care – and have a track record of improving networking and involvement within the sector, as well as experience of driving social change.

We believe there are too many people who have, for one reason or another, been put off learning. This is either because of bad experiences in the past or due to factors such as money or time, and hope Trade School Glasgow will become a place where people can come together, make friends, bounce ideas off each other, collaborate on projects and be a more involved part of their community.