SHEEP dog training for Dales farmers and first aid for mothers with young children are among the courses being set up as part of the Learning Pays for Adults project in North Yorkshire.

Fleur Butler, the lifelong learning development worker for Richmonshire, regularly visits Middleham Key Centre, the community offices in Leyburn and Hawes and Hudson House in Reeth, to explain how people can share their skills within their own communities.

She also travels with the mobile library, meeting people and giving them confidence to take part.

By listening to people and finding out what they want, she has already organised for the ICT Discovery bus to visit Carperby in Wensleydale and it will soon be going to Newsham as well.

At Newsham, a workshop will be started to give training in first aid for mothers with young children.

"I want to be very much learner-focussed," said Mrs Butler. "When I got in touch with farmers in mid-Wensleydale, they said they wanted a sheep dog training course." So that is being organised, too.

In early 2005 as part of the project, which is being funded by the Local Skills Council and the North Yorkshire Voluntary Forum, there will be free half-day workshops on how to run training courses.

No qualifications will be needed. Mrs Butler is looking for people with skills such as embroidery, flower arranging, gardening, cookery, cake icing, using digital cameras, line dancing, whist and more.

They will be trained to run workshops in their village halls and could charge if they wished. The halls could benefit from fundraising. "Here is a chance that could be just what a community needs," said Mrs Butler.

She can be contacted on 01677 423166 or at the following times: first Tuesday in the month at Middleham; first Monday in the month at Leyburn; the first and third Wednesday of each month at Reeth; and on the last Thursday of the month at Hawes.