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The Adult Learners’ Week National Awards Ceremony saw individuals and projects from all over England come together to accept their awards and have their inspiring learning journeys and the life-changing opportunities they offer to others highlighted and celebrated.

The event in London was part of Adult Learners' Week, which illustrates perfectly how learning can and does help people to completely transform their lives.

The week was supported by the National Careers Serviceand Kim Thorneywork, Chief Executive of the Skills Funding Agency, which provides the service, was at the ceremony to present two special awards.

Kim presented awards to Learning Matters, which won the Learning Life Skills Project Award. Learning Matters is a project partnership between Alpha Hospital Bury and Bolton College for service users being treated for complex mental health issues. 32 men and 26 women took part in therapeutic education. Not all studied for qualifications, but those who did were able to gain City and Guilds qualifications in Adult Literacy and Numeracy from Entry Levels 1, 2 and 3 as well as Levels 1 and 2 at Alpha Hospital Bury in 2012.

Kim also presented an award to Bulend Murad, who won the Learning Life Skills Individual Award. Bulend said of his award: "I’m actually surprised...at how I handle things and how much my life has transformed in one year, but learning itself is a lifetime achievement and I’m learning and transforming my life every day."

Kim said: "The National Careers Service is all about helping people reach their full potential and that is why the service works hand in hand with Adult Learners’ Week.

"I am a great believer that learning transforms lives. The weeklong celebration of the benefits of learning encourages adults to take part in the many activities during the week - and beyond!

Speaking at the National Awards Ceremony, Matthew Hancock MP Minister for Skills, said: "For everyone to reach their potential we need to ensure that learning opportunities are expanded throughout their lives. Countries that are investing heavily in education are the ones galloping ahead, so we must continually improve on this in the UK."

David Hughes, NIACE’s Chief Executive, said: "Every one of our Adult Learners’ Week award winners talked about the crucial support and commitment they received from their tutors - we need a much more celebratory culture around learning."

The inspirational national winners stories are available to watch on You Tube by clicking here.