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History of Charney Bassett Village College

Charney Bassett Village College (CBVC) was launched in January 2001with the first course being launched in March 2001. It was the brainchild of Elisabeth Dahele who first proposed the idea to Charney Bassett Parish Council in January 2000. The Parish Council agreed that the College should be established under its auspices. The course topics chosen initially were in response to a survey of interest conducted principally in Charney Bassett and Lyford. The content of the courses was developed in partnership with Abingdon College (later to become Abingdon and Witney College (A&WC).

Although village colleges had already been set up in Appleton and East Hendred, both these locations were able to provide fixed-station classrooms. The model adopted for CBVC was different and unique in that A&WC undertook all capital investment, tuition, running costs and maintenance for the original IT courses. Charney and Lyford Educational Trust (CLET) also supplied financial support. The CBVC model has subsequently been used as the basis for county-wide courses in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. CBVC has therefore played a significant role in a much wider educational venture.

When Elisabeth Dahele stepped down as College Manager, the role was subsequently taken over by Jackie Cross, Jos Bath, Lynn Brookes and presently Christine Trotman.

Since its launch CBVC has provided courses such as: IT at various levels, yoga, pilates, flower arranging, water colour painting, desktop publishing, French conversation, introduction to digital photography, willow weaving, calligraphy, singing and patchwork and quilting.

CBVC has been an outstanding success in seeking to meet its objectives, and the benefits it has brought to a significant number of villagers are evident.

27 March 2017

French