Ipswich Community Media Wins Inclusive Adult Learning Provision Award

Last month we were delighted to be awarded the Inclusive Adult Learning Provision Award at the 2025 Suffolk Adult Learner Awards. A huge testament to the work of our Integration Team in delivering ESOL programmes to over 200 learners every week.

Photo by Luke Tomlinson.

The Suffolk Adult Learners’ Awards, organised by Suffolk County Council, have been running for over ten years recognising and celebrating the hard work and dedication of adult learners, volunteers, and teachers within the local community. The awards have become a staple of the ICM calendar as we strongly believe in the importance of celebrating the contributions and stories of our learners and the people around them. 

Even more excitingly for us, this year the awards were hosted by Suffolk High Sheriff Gulshan Kayembe, who just happens to be the Chair of our board of trustees! Gulshan has been an education specialist for several decades, working in and supporting schools up and down the country. Her theme for the High Sheriff this year is Prevention Through Education, so she was the ideal person to host these awards. 

We’re proud to say that since ICM’s inception in 2015 we’ve barely gone a year without one of our learners or projects winning at least one award, however this year was extra special. The same week that we celebrated our 10th anniversary, we were honoured to be awarded the Inclusive Adult Learning Provision Award (unexpectedly, the very award we were sponsoring!), recognising outstanding commitment to inclusive and accessible adult education.

Our adult learning provision had humble beginnings. Starting in the early days of ICM, in a room borrowed from our friends at ISCRE (Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality), and run by a team of volunteer staff who would later officially become our Integration Team. Just two years later the team got their first dedicated premises, moving into an office off of St Matthews Street Roundabout alongside Suffolk Refugee Support. That same year we received Landmark funding from The National Lottery in 2018 for our IConnect project, allowing us to not just teach English in the classroom but give migrants a fully rounded experience. Learning English, but also building community and developing skills and knowledge to achieve their dreams.

Today the Integration Team resides in our ICM HQ on Museum Street, having outgrown their previous space. During the past year we have worked with over 250 learners from more than 50 different nationalities, not only teaching them English but supporting them to engage with their classmates and the local community.

Recent learner feedback from our classes found that:

• 100% of learners said the quality of the course activities was good or outstanding

• 82% of learners move onto employment, volunteering or further learning

• 94% of learners say they feel less isolated and more aware of other communities, and this has positively impacted their well-being

• 99% of learners feel they are well supported by staff

• 100% of learners who then go on to volunteer with us show an increase in confidence, self-esteem and well being

Photo by Luke Tomlinson.

In the decade since its inception, ICM has been committed to empowering people through media, language support, and lifelong learning. Winning this award not only validates those efforts but also inspires the organisation to continue pushing boundaries in inclusive education.

Anjali Sule, Integration Team Manager at ICM, expressed her gratitude:

“We are incredibly thankful for this recognition. It’s a reflection of the tireless efforts of our team and our shared belief in making learning opportunities available and accessible to all members of our community.”

Find out more about our Intagration Team and what they offer on our Learning page.