Governor Profile - Pam Beswick
Meet Pam
I am delighted to be a Governor of Lancaster and Morecambe College and have been appointed primarily to represent the community. I feel I can bring my extensive work experience to the role and also the fact that I travelled the Further Education route to gain my qualifications.
I am currently responsible for the management of Signposts Multi Agency Resource Centre. The Centre has a team of 5 full-time workers, 9 part-time workers and 40 - 60 volunteers.
I was responsible for the initiation of the Service working with a Management Committee and in 1999 the Centre became an Independent Charity. I have experience within Health and Social Services having worked for Middlesbrough Area Health Authority and within North Tees Community Health Council when I lived in the North East where my two children were born. I have also worked as a Youth and Community Worker, Trainer and Social Worker. I have management qualifications including HNC and OND in Business Studies and I have a degree in Community and Youth Studies which I took at St Martins College in Lancaster as a "mature" student.
I also have an MA in Women's Studies and have a particular interest in Equal Opportunities and Inequalities.
Working in the Voluntary Sector I am familiar with change and uncertainty. This has proved helpful in the Further Education Sector as it too faces challenges in responding to a changing national and local agendas. Each Service has its own language and a personal challenge for me has been to become familiar with the culture of the Service. I am familiar with the Modernisation Agenda for Health and Social Services and have a particular interest in how services can be delivered effectively through partnership working to people in need. It is important that people are involved in changes that are going to affect them and for empowerment principles to be adopted in regards to the involvement of people in the services they receive. Effective consultation is a constant challenge in that there is the danger of "consultation fatigue" and it is often difficult to encourage people to become involved in processes, which they may perceive as being remote and hierarchical.
I am keen to contribute to the debate about the future of the College and how it can respond to the needs of the local community. I see education is something that is fundamental in people being able to make choices and achieve their potential. As the College has developed on the main campus it has to consider how it reaches out to all sections of the Lancaster and Morecambe District both on site and by working with others in the community.
