Taking as our guide the ideas of Raymond Williams which he developed in his many and varied writings we are a Charity whose trustees aim to continue his 'Long Revolution'.

The Raymond Williams Foundation (RWF) commitments are specifically within the sphere of Adult Education.
Williams spent many years teaching adult students who came to him through the WEA and his extensive range of essays and lectures on education, published by NIACE in 1993,* offer a seaching analysis of the conditions for a genuine learning society.
In a time when the liberal adult education which Williams knew and respected (summarised in his statement "I've often defined my own social purpose as the creation of an educated and participating democracy") is needed as much as ever, we will help sustain and extend that tradition supporting courses and disadvantaged students through grants and bursaries

Our Aims

To Support :-

• adult education through partnership with the WEA and similar organizations


• the continuation of annual Raymond Williams weekends on broad social, political, philosophical and cultural themes


• courses or day schools on themes in sympathy with Williams' ideas.


• residential courses within the tradition of the Wedgwood Memorial College, and plans to re-open the College in Barlaston


• the socially and educationally disadvantaged


• student research on short study-breaks at any resourced adult education college


• the opportunity of working in partnership with the Raymond Williams Society to publish, and retain in archive, papers resulting from RWF supported courses


• the development of family learning for the socially and educationally disadvantaged in a residential setting


• the development of connections between informal adult education—U3A, book groups etc—and formal adult education WEA, university, LEA etc


• facilitation of this through use of web-linked resources - eg BBC web sites and www.opendemocracy.net

RWF are delighted to support "News from Nowhere" and "Discussion Circles" by including information within this website