Lucy Hewes is a tutor with IFWEA-affiliated the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) in the UK. Earlier this year she won the WEA award for Digitally Innovative Teaching, focusing on how she adapted her classes once the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

Lucy had been delivered a variety of sewing and textile courses at the WEA centre at Clare House in Scunthorpe since 2017. When Covid-19 closed these popular classes, Lucy immediately agreed to explore the possibility of delivering her planned summer term classes via Zoom and Canvas. She has invested in all sorts of devices and applications to bring her classes to life and make them interactive. Her classes have attracted new students from all across the country, some of whom would not be able to access classes in their area.

Lucy says: “My job is to facilitate group learning. There are so many different techniques, I’m learning too all the time. I always make that clear to my students. I don’t know everything. But I’m very good at finding things out.” Read more about Lucy and what she did to ensure her classes continued, and how she made them super accessible – click here