Hi, my name is Emma, and I am the Multiply Project Manager at Leicestershire County Council.
Multiply is a national project which aims to level up opportunities for more people by increasing their confidence with numbers. My role is focussed on encouraging adults to get involved with numbers. I’m one of those annoying people who loved maths at school, but I know I’m not in the majority. We all use numbers in everyday life and here at Multiply, we offer a range of courses that can support you to gain that lost confidence through practical and fun ways. We’re not trying to teach maths (although that was always one of my ambitions), but we want to boost number skills and help people to feel less scared.
We have a wonderful team delivering our courses across the county. Our courses are for everyone, from families and parents to carers and grandparents. Whether you want to improve your job prospects, feel confident helping your children with their homework or just improve managing your household expenses, Multiply can help you. There are so many ways to learn; in person or online, at work or at home, part-time or in an intensive block. You just need to find the right solution for you.
We support with the cost of living through our Keeping Tab of Costs courses, which teaches basic digital skills on a tablet, how to compare prices across supermarkets and how to create a budget plan. Our Cook, Meet & Eat courses help individuals to cook some tasty recipes whilst learning how to waste less, and top tips for saving money. But as I said, numbers are all around us, so we also have some taster sessions for budding photographers coming up in September and January.
A typical working day for me includes at least one cup of coffee, team updates, creating and updating spreadsheets, writing reports, and managing budgets but what gives me the most fulfilment is getting out to our classes and seeing people grow and develop in confidence. Best of all is when learners realise, they have been doing maths and that they not only survived it but actually enjoyed it. One of our learners recently said “I thought this course was great and I feel now more able to manage my money better and should have done this sooner.”
I love the variety of the role and the opportunity it has given us to reach people who would not normally engage with adult learning. The feedback has been incredible, and I can’t wait to see the development through our third year of the project.
It's never too late to improve your confidence to deal with the numbers in your life. Have a look at our Multiply courses and I hope to see you there.