Now you can expand your brain in easy bites of knowledge, says DAVID HARBOURNE, executive director of the new Learning and Skills Council North Yorkshire, who has found a way to make a little learning a fun-packed thing.

ONE of the Learning and Skills Council's statutory duties is to promote lifelong learning.

It's no surprise, therefore, that we chose this as a theme for a series of discussions around all parts of York and North Yorkshire in early April.

We wanted to find out the views and ideas of colleges, training providers, schools, voluntary groups and - importantly - employers. We thought there was massive scope to work together to promote the benefits of learning, and overcome some of the psychological and practical barriers that prevent many people from getting more involved.

The result was a tremendous list of ideas for us to work on over the coming months. One issue which came back time after time was to make the first taste of learning fun, and to take it out of the classroom. For example, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service suggested inviting local people into fire stations, and we will be taking up their offer to run a series of short sessions on fire safety.

This will be linked with other "bite size" courses throughout the summer months. They will be in all sorts of places, orthodox and unorthodox, and there will be lots to choose from.

Ideas include introductions to the Internet, how to send a text message to your teenage son/daughter (funny how it's the teenagers that have the technology, isn't it?), tips for remembering people's names (I'll be doing that one!) and an introduction to feng shui. Bite size courses are still very much in the planning stage, and we are keen to hear from anyone - particularly employers - interested in running or hosting a session of about one hour in length. Please ring our office in York on 0845 019 4146 with your ideas, offers or requests for help.

The 2001 programme of bite size courses will start towards the end of June, to coincide with York's Learning Festival.

But even before then, there is an opportunity for employers to show their commitment to staff and create an appetite for learning by supporting Learning at Work Day, May 17.

The Campaign for Learning can provide planning and publicity materials free of charge, including ideas for activities such as job swaps and workplace learning on topics such as foreign languages, stress management and understanding finance.

Job swaps can be very revealing. Do production staff know what it's like to be on the sales team? Or vice versa?

For that matter, does the managing director remember what it's like to be on the proverbial shop floor? Swap for a day and find out!

Or swap outside your own immediate work place: last year, the chief executive of the City of York Council, David Clark, spent a day working in a local primary school. What would you like to do?

- For more information and materials about Learning and Work Day, call 0117 966 7755.