A series of evening dinner meetings have allowed members the opportunity to meet with other women's organizations and discuss issues relating to training and education for women. One featured, as speaker, the Director General of Canada Employment and Immigration Saskatchewan. Region, Ms. V. Lyn Pearson. (Ms. Pearson was a former director of the Saskatchewan Women's division, Department of Labour.) Another featured Lenore Rogers, Past President of CCLOW and a member of the National Advisory Panel on Paid Skill Development Leave. Though attendance could have been better, these meetings have allowed members and others the opportunity to meet and discuss our plans, concerns and activities.

Our proposal to the Skills Growth Fund is still "under consideration" at C.E.I.C. We hope to receive funds to establish a "Women's Access Centre" which will help women of all educational backgrounds to attain their learning goals. It is our hope that the successful implementation of this project will serve as a prototype elsewhere across the country because of the "built -in" cooperation between all funding, educational and social agencies involved, supplement by the over-riding feminist philosophy. We only wish that the good rumours we have heard concerning the application would materialize into concrete news.

In Saskatchewan institutes, there is good news for potential women students. new competency based programs offered on an extended-day basis will make many skills/training programs more accessible. We look forward to the successful implementation of these courses. A membership drive has been quite successful in Saskatchewan. We have added several active local organizations to our membership as well as welcoming new individual members.

We are preparing for presentations on our projects and what they have taught us to deliver at the CCLOW National Conference in August. It is our hope that many of our members will be able take part in the conference. We look forward to meeting many of you there.

Nova Scotia

Funding was received in March for a project to "Survey the Learning Needs of Rural Women." The $1,900 grant will be used to conduct surveys in six designated areas of Nova Scotia. Women from the representative areas will participate in the design and delivery of the survey. A Halifax CCLOW subcommittee headed by Linda MacDonald, Mount Saint Vincent University Learning Centre is directing the project. Results have assisted in defining parameters and priorities for CCLOW Nova Scotia's major proposal for a field worker/co-ordinator submitted to Secretary of State in May 1984.

The lobbying effort of a CCLOW N.S. sub-committee may have prevented the withdrawal of the Women and Pre-Technology course offered for women by the Department of Education, Nova Scotia and CEIC. A Brief was written by Mieke Nienhuis to answer the questions

Members of the CCLOW sub-committee met with representatives of the joint Manpower Needs Training Committee; all members of that committee were called personally and two page letter outlining the case for returning the course was sent to the committee with copies to some twenty relevant Federal and Provincial government politicians Edmonton and CEIC representatives. As a result the joint committee when it met recommended retaining the course

Eastern Shore Learning Opportunities for Women recently cosponsored a public meeting with the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on The Status of Women and are presently preparing a submission to Secretary of State for a Women's Resource Centre.

Sylvia Collins, one of the founders of the Queens County Women's group, spoke at a recent Halifax CCLOW meeting of the progress of the group since last fall. They have run an impressive number of programs for women in and around the Liverpool area. Recent sessions have focussed on The Middle Years.

A new Women's Learning Support Group has formed in the Halifax area with guidance from the Life Planning Learning Centre M.S.V.U. Women ranging in age from their early twenties to early fifties will offer one to one emotional support to women dealing with difficult changes in their lives.

CCLOW members have participated in two awareness sessions regarding The Charter of the rights the implications for women. It is hoped that an action group will be formed Janet Eaton, N.S. Director will be spending the last two weeks in June in the U.K. as a guest of the Ncotish Institute of Adult Education. As President elect of CLANS (Continuous Learning Association of Nova Scotia) she will be representing that organization. Congratulations to Patricia Monies, Adult Educator, CCLOW Treasurer and new mother of twins 7 lbs 12 oz.