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Welcome

Friends Centre is an independent adult education organisation where people can develop their knowledge, skills, understanding and creativity in a supportive environment.
Download course brochure

Term dates

Spring Term: 13 January – 4 April

(half term 17–21 February)

Summer Term: 28 April – 14 July

(half term 26–30 May)

Reception Opening Hours

Brighton Junction

9.30am–5.30pm (Monday–Thursday) 9.30am–3.00pm (Fridays, half term and holidays)

Ivory Place

9.30am–4.30pm (Monday–Thursday) 9.30am–1.00pm (Fridays)

Ivory Place is closed during half term and holidays

Adult learning

We have been part of the Brighton and Hove community since 1945, providing community based education across a broad range of subjects.

Whether you are looking to take up a new challenge, or are out of work or facing the prospect of redundancy, Friends Centre has something for you. We offer courses in Adult Literacy and Numeracy, English for Speakers of Other Languages, arts and crafts and other leisure topics, Job Skills and IT. We also offer careers and training advice, professional training courses and free computer use.

Each year around 1,600 people from different backgrounds come to learn together in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Click here to read more about Friends Centre

Sign up to our Mailing List

Sign up to our mailing list to get information about new courses as soon as they're enrolling! You'll also receive info about other work we do here at the Friends Centre and in the local community. We won't send you more than 5 or 6 emails a year and we never share your details with any third parties.

Click here to sign up!

News

Fashion Tutor publishes book on Sewing Machine

Our dressmaking tutor, Julia Hincks has published a book on the Overlocker sewing machine! The overlocker is a type of sewing machine which is used for trimming and edge finishing fabrics. It’s perfect for seam and hem finishing as it creates a professional finish which you just don’t get on a normal sewing machine' Click here for more details.

New Skills & Training Courses for Adults

Our new brochure for Skills & Training for adults is now available. Courses range from communication skills to the more vocational ‘Confidence and Self Esteem’ and ‘Assessing Vocational Achievement’. We are also able to offer bespoke programmes and for businesses. Click here for more details.

Friends Centre Craft Fair at St Bartholomews Church

We had a great time at our Christmas Craft fair on 30th November, you can see the picture on our facebook page! Click here to see the photos!

ESOL Volunteer publishes first book!

Bob Cant, an ESOL volunteer at Friends Centre, has just published his first novel. Something Chronic is the story of a man who wakes up after twenty years of sleeping sickness and tries to make sense of the world around him. It belongs to the school of Scottish magic realism.

Bob says: 'I have been working on this novel for years but joining a creative writing class with Rebecca Duffy at Friends Centre was the kick start it needed to make it suitable for publication.'It is now available for immediate purchase online (£8.99) Click here for more details.

Sign up to our mailing list!

You can now receive email updates from the Friends Centre straight to your inbox! Just click the link below and we'll send you info about new courses as soon as they're confirmed on the website! Click here to sign up!

Co-op Funding for Volunteer Training

Co-operative Membership Community Fund

At Friends Centre we rely heavily on our volunteer learning support assistants. We currently have forty people working in classrooms supporting our learners.

We have received a very generous grant from the Co-operative Community Fund which is enabling us to provide valuable training for our volunteers. On the 25th September, 19 of our classroom volunteers attended a training event at our Brighton Junction base. A further Co-op funded training event is planned for January.

We would like to say a big thank you to the Co-op Community Fund for making these training days possible. Click here for more details on The Co-op Community Fund.

Trustee Vacancies

Friends Centre are looking to appoint 2 or 3 new trustees to join the board
Click here for more details.

Volunteer Confidential Clerk

We are also looking for a Volunteer Confidential Clerk to the Board of Trustees Click here for more details.

Friends Centre has made a pledge to the Thumbs up Scheme

Click here for more details.