Enable is the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Voluntary and Community Sector Learning and Skills Consortium.

We were established to enable voluntary organisations and community groups to effectively engage in the development and delivery of the local learning and skills agenda.

There is increasing recognition that the voluntary and community sector has an important role to play within a range of social and economic policy areas and in particular that it can potentially make a significant contribution to the national and local learning and skills targets for adults and young people. In response, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Voluntary and Community Sector Learning and Skills Consortium (Enable) was established to enable voluntary organisations and community groups to effectively engage in the development and delivery of the local learning and skills agenda.

Our aims are to:

• Ensure the voluntary sector is able to make an effective contribution to national and local targets for learning and skills.
• Develop the capacity of the sector as providers of learning.
• Facilitate collaboration, within the sector and with other sectors, to widen participation in learning and increase achievement.
• Establish a recognised formal channel for involvement and consultation.
• Provide the infrastructure to enable voluntary organisations and community groups to deliver learning programmes that meet the needs of learners, the community and national frameworks.

To achieve this we aim to be:

• A managing agency for the delivery of learning by voluntary and community organisations unable to contract independently.
• A development agency for voluntary sector learning providers.

Enable has achieved the Investors in People Standard.

Enable has been awarded the Matrix quality standard for the information and advice it offers to its member organisations about learning and work.The matrix Standard is the national quality standard for any organisation that delivers information, advice and/or guidance on learning and work. See: www.matrixstandard.com