About Acorn Training

Acorn Training offer a comprehensive range of services including adult education, employability programmes, apprenticeships, justice services, skills, and careers development.

Our Core Values

Acorn Training is an award-winning training provider with over 18 years of experience, recognised for its dedication to diversity and inclusion values.

Our tailored services are delivered across eight training centres and within the local communities we serve.

Read our 10-year Strategic Plan – Adding Value and Creating Empowerment

Ofsted ‘Good’ Rating

Our ‘Good’ rating from Ofsted Inspection stands as a testament to our commitment to delivering high-quality and person-centred services. We have strong roots in the local and wider communities that we serve; changing lives, inspiring individuals and their families to take responsibility for their path in life through tailored, holistic support and learning and development.

Inclusive Learning Environment

We welcome learners from all backgrounds and are proud to promote a respectful and calm learning environment. Our trainers are highly skilled in the topics that they teach and in understanding how to meet individual needs and preferences. We provide high levels of learning support and tailor our curriculum to meet your needs.

“Over the past 16 years, we have supported thousands of individuals to break down personal barriers, gain qualifications and return to education and/or find long-term employment.”

Our Commitment to Community

At Acorn Training, social responsibility and community engagement are fundamental to our core values. Through initiatives like our commitment to wellbeing and volunteering opportunities for employees, we are passionate about giving back to the communities we serve.

We prioritise supporting causes that resonate with our values, such as promoting the health & wellbeing of children, young people and families, advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, and championing environmental sustainability. These efforts reflect our dedication to making a positive difference in society.

We are committed to expanding our social value offer and regularly host and implement new ways of making positive contributions to society. Here are just some of the ways we make a difference:

All employees have the opportunity to complete one day paid volunteering work.
We raise money for a nominated charity of the year – this year it is Trussell, who support people facing hardship by providing emergency food parcels and practical help through their nationwide network of food banks.
We sponsor local and charitable events such as the Burslem Unites Festival, Blackpool Pride and The Innit Musical.
We have designated community champions in our centres to signpost individuals to health, wellbeing, financial, food banks, and other vital support services.
We continuously invest in our employees through regular CPD training and provide the opportunity for them to embark on professional qualifications up to Masters Degree level.

Our Commitments

At Acorn Training, breaking down barriers and supporting our communities is at the heart of everything we do.

We’re proud to share the commitments we have made to this cause as we continue to embed these inclusive principles into our activities with all stakeholders, generating awareness, and creating an inclusive environment for everyone. We are committed to:

Setting out to achieve a Net Zero status by 2032

In December 2022, Acorn Training committed to support the Government’s target to be net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050. Acorn Training has committed to the following actions:

Set up a social value steering group with a sub-group focusing specifically on CO2e
Identify a robust process for identifying commute CO2e to improve accuracy of grey fleet information
Produce a detailed action plan to reduce CO2e by 10% each year for the next 10 years to achieve net zero CO2e by 2032; achieve by three approaches; energy efficiency, strategic and operational planning and off-setting
Identify an organisation senior lead for our strategy to reduce CO2e
Review our accommodation strategy to identify quick wins to reduce CO2e within existing estate and implement an estate implementation policy for new sites.

Through these proactive measures, Acorn Training is not only contributing to the broader environmental goals but also positioning itself as a leader in industry of sustainable business practices. To learn more, please read our Carbon Reduction policy.

Carbon Reduction Policy