Home / About
Education makes our world a better place and we’re here to make lifelong learning easy, accessible and enjoyable for you.
For over 100 years, curious people who care about community, planet, and social justice have come through our doors to learn. Today we offer 50+ affordable courses and events on topics from current issues to technology.
Ask John about WEA Council matters and about WEA. John volunteers his time and is often on site on Mondays. He is also a Community Law lawyer.
Ask Dave about WEA Council matters. Dave also wrangles our IT as a volunteer (thanks Dave), and is a keen environmental campaigner.
Ask Wendy about WEA Council matters. Wendy volunteers for several community organisations and brings her archival expertise to help WEA manage our archives.
Ask Stacey about WEA Council budget. An associate at Baker Tilly Staples Rodway, Stacey offers financial guidance and business advisory services to the Council.
Ask Ginny about minutes of WEA Council meetings. Ginny is also in charge of health and safety and is a volunteer for the Book Discussion Scheme.
Ask Lottie about teaching a course at WEA, or if you have a promotional opportunity for us. Our budget is tiny, so pro-bono support is appreciated.
Ask Julie or Janie about WEA courses, getting a copy of our programme, becoming a WEA member, and how you can support WEA.
Sue has been helping us keep our accounts in order, for over 15 years.
Kazuko manages the building, sets up rooms for classes and events, and keeps everything shipshape. She also teaches crafts and Japanese culture.
Collective decision making is part of our history and kaupapa. The WEA Council provides strategic guidance from our community and is elected on each year by members at our AGM. Council members are also selected to sit on our Executive which looks after larger operational matters.
If you’d like to volunteer on our Programme Committee, which helps the co-ordinator with ideas for courses, or find out about standing for Council, please contact John Sullivan.
The elected Council members are Caroline Maze, Colin Meurk, Geoff Holland, Ginny Nelson, Jennifer Leahy, Robyn Chandler, Simon Courtney and Sophia White. They are joined by honorary life members Daniela Bagozzi, Gertrud Cocks, Ivan Hibberd and Katherine Peet who bring a wealth of wisdom and institutional knowledge to Council decision making. The Executive is made up of John, Wendy, Dave, Stacey, Geoff, Ivan, Ginny and Lottie.
The Canterbury Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) was founded in 1915. At that time, only the rich could afford an education. If you came from a working family, training for a profession was almost impossible without a wealthy patron.
For many years, WEA offered working-class men and women an affordable opportunity to access university-level education. Many Cantabrians took advantage of this to change professions or improve their careers.
Over time, as university education became accessible to more people, our focus changed to improving quality of life through life-long learning. The courses we offered changed too, becoming less academic, shorter, and more interest-based. We expanded our arts, music, and dance offerings.
Read more of our history here.
We receive no government funding. If you want to make sure we continue to offer affordable education to the people of Canterbury, here’s how you can help.
