Sean Paul Gracie – Scottish Union Learning Learner of the Year Award Winner

We are delighted that our member Sean Paul Gracie has won the Scottish Union Learning Learner of the Year award for 2025. Sean was presented with the award by First Minister John Swinney at STUC Congress in Dundee last week.

Sean Paul has been a Community Union member for five and a half years, and has worked in RSBi Glasgow since he was 18 years old. He came to RSBi as part of the RSBi schools programme, where local kids from ASN schools are given the opportunity to complete a placement in a supported workplace. Sean completed an SVQ in Performing Manufacturing Operations, and then secured full-time employment in RSBi.

Sean Paul, who has global development delay and autism, has taken part in literacy and numeracy courses facilitated through the Community RSBi Collective Learning Partnership. Some of this learning has been funded through SUL as well as the Multiply Fund and in-house employer and union funded courses.

Sean Paul completed 3 Multiply courses last year (2023/24) delivered through the WEA – Budgeting Skills, Digital Numeracy and CPA and Number Systems. During this time he worked well with his peers contributing to the group and to his own learning. Sean was quiet during year 1 and as he continued learning his confidence and interactions with the facilitator and the group also grew.

This year (2024/25) Sean Paul has completed two SUL funded courses – Numeracy for Manufacturing and Literacy Support for learners in Supported Workplaces.

During the Numeracy for Manufacturing course Sean Paul excelled with his learning with two particular parts of the course. The first was using Lego to design a simple build and then draw diagrams for this so one of his peers could follow instruction to build his design. This was done in an extremely logical manner using colours to make the instructions easier to follow and understand.

For the final part of this course learners had to produce a design brief for a piece of furniture that could be built or similar to something that could be built by RSBi. Again, Sean Paul completed this work to a high standard with the design brief being logical, well present and functional.

He is now working on completing another course with the WEA (Introduction to the Digital Office) and he remains focussed on this new course.

The bespoke nature of these courses and the small group numbers has allowed Sean Paul to thrive in this union led learning environment – this would not have been possible without the work of the ULRs and the funding available through SUL and Multiply funding.

The culture of learning that has been created in RSBi Glasgow is an inspiration to other workplaces. It has been developed over many years, with the great working relationship between the union and the employer playing a big part in that. A long standing local learning agreement means every member of staff in RSBi has access to a minimum of 1 hour 15 mins towards learning every week – something that is utilised regularly by a significant portion of the staff group, including Sean Paul.

Sean Paul continues to regularly take part in learning and continues to grow in ability and confidence. With the support of the ULRs and his employer, we are confident that this will continue.

Roy Rickhuss CBE, Community’s General Secretary, said:

“Community is the leading union amongst disabled workers in the UK, and our reps across the UK have been a driving force in ensuring that disabled members such as Sean Paul are afforded the same rights and opportunities as non-disabled members.

“We pride ourselves on the workplace learning opportunities we have provided over the years to our membership. Our Community Learn department work closely with our network of Union Learning Reps, to ensure our members have access to the skills development they need to succeed and excel both in their work and their home lives.

“Sean Paul should be very proud of himself for his achievements in the literacy and numeracy classes and for winning this award. He is a real inspiration and I wish him well as he continues in his learning journey.”

Steve McGurk, Community President, ULR & Branch Secretary for RSBi Glasgow Branch, said:

“Sean Paul’s achievement is a testament to his hard work and determination, but also highlights the power of union led learning. His success shows how life changing workplace learning can be for disabled workers.”

Susan Cassidy, Learning Organiser for Community, said:

“The literacy and numeracy courses that Sean Paul took part in were funded by the Scottish Union Learning Development Fund, and the Multiply Adult Numeracy Fund and were delivered by WEA Scotland. This specialised funding allowed us to deliver courses bespoke to our membership. We were able to design the course content around the specific learner needs and deliver in their place of work, in a union learning center that is a safe, accessible space for our members.”