Norfolk County Council announce new Multiply Champions

The seven new Multiply Champions, one for each district in the county, have been employed by the council to promote numeracy skills in people over 19 without a GCSE at grade 4/C.

Making maths accessible, approachable, and engaging is one of the key challenges for the new Champions. They will attend events, community hubs, and libraries to help inspire people to take up a variety of courses on offer.

The Multiply project is a national project which awarded Norfolk County Council £4.7 million to provide numeracy support, training and qualifications until April 2025 which would be delivered by partners such as Norfolk Adult Learning, City College Norwich, the College of West Anglia, and East Coast College.

Cllr Margaret Dewsbury, cabinet member for communities and partnerships, said: "With each district having its own dedicated Multiply Champion we will be able to demonstrate to people the benefits of numeracy skills and how they can improve people's lives.

"These new Champions will also be able to offer advice and support to those who want to boost their understanding of numbers and can signpost people to different types of courses to help with a variety of topics from managing their money to helping their children with their homework. Having the chance to improve your mathematical ability can help people to apply for more, higher paid jobs, and make them feel more confident about day-to-day transactions."

Laura Moore, one of the newly hired Multiply Champions, said: "I've always had a negative feeling towards maths from my own learning experiences, and in order to work in schools, I had to boost my own grade by attending evening classes alongside working. It really opened up my eyes to learning styles, and finally being able to understand maths from different methods tried and taught with me. I feel this gives me some good understanding on other people's own barriers."

Kerice Howell, another new Multiply Champion, said: "When we think of maths, it is easy to focus on the negatives rather than the positive aspects that we promote such as unlocking job opportunities, preparing you for further studies, building your confidence with money, budgeting money, and help in everyday life, such as helping children with homework. My personal experience with maths plays a part, but everything we do in life our personal experiences will always play a part."

The Multiply project enables Norfolk County Council to distribute funding to learning partners to deliver a variety of courses to boost confidence and skill with maths. The range of courses include preparation for maths qualifications, such as Functional Skills, help with managing money, and courses aimed at specific workplaces which will be delivered alongside employers.

People can sign up for updates and view the available courses at www.norfolk.gov.uk/multiply