Courses in Birmingham

LOOKING FOR: MG, YA, ADULT FICTION / NON-FICTION Kesia Lupo joined Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2024 after 11 years working across the publishing industry. She started out as an editorial assistant at Pan Macmillan London in 2013, transitioning to children’s fiction in 2015 when she moved to Chicken House (a UK imprint of Scholastic), where she worked her way up from junior to senior editor. Here she acquired and edited bestselling, internationally successful and prize-winning fiction for middle grade (MG) and YA readers. In 2023 she transitioned over to the US and agenting, working with the Bindery Agency before finding a home with DMLA. At DMLA, Kesia is building a list leaning 60/40 towards MG and YA fiction, with the rest consisting of adult fiction and a smattering of adult non-fiction. She is especially, but not exclusively, interested in underrepresented voices, whether BIPOC, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, disabled writers or other identities not listed here. Across all age-groups, she’s seeking: Fantasy/Science Fiction: High fantasy, low fantasy, cosy fantasy. Particularly interested in fantasy and SF inspired by underrepresented cultures with unique world-building. Romantasy is fine but the fantasy elements MUST be strong! Horror: Psychological and paranormal horror in particular but will consider slashers. Kesia loves gothic horror and is not generally fazed by gory content. Thrillers: Upmarket thrillers with a unique spin. Loves plot twists! Historical: Open to everything with a strong hook and informed by excellent research. Would love to find non-Eurocentric historical fiction. For adult fiction only, she’s seeking: Bookclub/women’s fiction: Voice-driven, high-concept novels across these categories. Romance: Upmarket romance with a great one-line pitch. Happy with spice. For adult non-fiction, she’s interested in accessible political, cultural or historical topics with broad appeal. Please don’t self-reject – if you are unsure about whether your story might be a good fit, Kesia would rather see it. In one single word document, Kesia would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document, whichever is shorter. (In addition to the paid sessions, Kesia is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Monday 17th March 2025

Become a META-Health professional with our 6 months intensive training! Do you want to learn the scientific background of body-mind-interactions and how to integrate this knowledge in your practical work with your clients? This course contains both self-study and live training in online classes and covers the META-Health Level 1 and 2 material. It will take 6 months including 24 live sessions, 2 hours each, mainly in a weekly rhythm. You will get preparatory videos, reading material and tasks that help to understand and integrate the content, while the group sessions focus on demonstrations, discusion of the material, and practical exercises for you. All the time, our trainers and tutors will support you and we’ll be a learning family with an active chatgroup. Altogether you should reckon approximately 5 hours per week.

Customer service is an organisation's ability to supply its customers' wants and needs. Improved customer service means constantly and consistently exceeding customers' expectations. This course is designed for service industry professionals who aim to maximise their efficiency, develop better customer skills, and increase their value. The focus is on increasing repeat business through customer satisfaction and referrals. Delegates will discover greater levels of productivity, job satisfaction, and potential for advancement. For client-facing service personnel, these areas of development will prove particularly beneficial, leading to increased internal and external customer satisfaction. Throughout the course, delegates will learn how to: Project a UB4me, customer-centred attitude Empower people with respect and control by acknowledging and offering choices Understand customers better and develop emotionally-intelligent methods for managing their fears and reactions Listen more intently to develop the best rapport Communicate clearly with conviction, projecting greater credibility Create positive, diplomatic messages even from negative situations, modelling a problem-solving, can-do attitude Create and refine phone-answering and email templates to appropriately address customer concerns and increase the potential for repeat business This Customer Service Skills course is a 4-hour interactive virtual class for up to 20 delegates. Upon registration, delegates will receive online login instructions prior to the class date. This format allows for a collaborative learning experience from the comfort of one's own home or office.

LOOKING FOR: ADULT FICTION Louise Buckley has worked in publishing for well over a decade. She was inspired to enter the publishing industry after completing an MA in Creative Writing and then spent a hugely enjoyable year working as a bookseller for Waterstones, wishing that she could have a hand in publishing books. After a year working at Dorling Kindersley, she then spent almost five years working in the commercial fiction division at Pan Macmillan, where she published a mix of commercial bestsellers and award-winning authors. Most recently, she was an Associate Literary Agent at Zeno Agency Ltd. As an agent she represented a roster of commercial and literary fiction, including Anne Griffin’s When All is Said, which spent five weeks at number one in Ireland and sold into 17 territories. She is delighted to be working with Hannah at Hannah Sheppard Literary Agency. Louise is looking for:- Literary and upmarket fiction that focusses on the underdog, the repressed, the suppressed. Louise is especially interested in novels that represent working-class people or children going through difficult circumstances (think Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal or Boys Don’t Cry by FÍona Scarlett). Irish literary and book club fiction. Think Claire Keegan, Louise Kennedy or Anne Griffin. In commercial fiction she loves novels set during the Second World War, such as The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christi Lefteri or The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart. Louise recently read and loved The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson and would love to see anything in the same ‘older person going on a journey’ category, a more recent The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Louise had a lot of fun publishing a ‘pet fiction’ novel as an editor (Molly and the Cat Café) and would love to find an author who can write an Alfie the Doorstep Cat/Dog. She has a soft spot for novels featuring time-travel or parallel universes, a ‘what if’ that plays around with conventions. At the literary end this would be books like Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes or This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. At the more commercial end Louise loved Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister, Dark Matter by Blake Crouch and Oona Out of Order by Martina Montimore. She also enjoys novels set in the real world but featuring a hefty dose of magic or the supernatural. They can be commercial or literary, present-day or historical. Think Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, Threadneedle by Cari Thomas, A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness or The Gifts by Liz Hyder. And also cosy fantasy in the vein of Legends and Lattes or The House in the Cerulean Sea. Cosy or humorous crime. Recently, Louise absolutely loved Over My Dead Body by Maz Evans. When she was an editor Louise published the hit Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll and would love to represent incisive, intelligent suspense written by authors such as Jessica Knoll and Gillian Flynn, or something a little more subversive and blackly comic like My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. More generally, Louise would also love to see novels with a disabled protagonist or someone (like herself) who is living with an invisible disability. As an ex-primary school teacher, she also warmly welcomes submissions from teachers, especially if the submission falls into one of the other categories she has listed. Following-on from this, she enjoys reading stories that follow a ‘beating the system’ narrative. Horror. Louise is currently really enjoying the horror resurgence and would love some more horror for her list. She is looking for all types of horror from the more literary, suspenseful horror along the lines of Andrew Michael Hurley to the more commercial like Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. Louise is also a big fan of horror mash-ups, especially body transformation horror such as Nightbitch, and horror mixed with, say, vampires, in the vein of Hungerstone or The Lamb. She would also love to see some dark academia. Think If We Were Villains or In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, and is a huge fan of gothic horror, so would love to see something that’s a modern-day Shirley Jackson or Rebecca. Louise is NOT looking for: -romance -romantasy -epic, traditional fantasy -space opera -straightforward women’s fiction -children’s fiction of any kind -non-fiction Louise would like you to submit a covering letter, 1 page synopsis and the first three chapters or 5,000 words of your manuscript in a single word document. (In addition to the paid sessions, Louise is kindly offering one free session for low income/under-represented writers. Please email agent121@iaminprint.co.uk to apply, outlining your case for this option which is offered at the discretion of I Am In Print).  By booking you understand you need to conduct an internet connection test with I Am In Print prior to the event. You also agree to email your material in one document to reach I Am In Print by the stated submission deadline and note that I Am In Print take no responsibility for the advice received during your agent meeting. The submission deadline is: Tuesday 18th March 2025

Join Mark on Thursday mornings to move, explore, and wake up to your true nature. Mark's classes are all about re-connecting the body and mind in order to find a sense of health, integration, freedom and kindness. Most of the time his classes are based around the seasons, since the Chinese energy system is very connected to the time of year and changing seasons.

THIS COURSE PACKAGE INCLUDES: 1: INTRODUCTION TO PHLEBOTOMY COURSE (GPT003) - Level 3 (Ireland Level 5) 2: ADVANCED PHLEBOTOMY COURSE (GPT005) - Level 4 (Ireland Level 6) 3: GEOPACE COMPETENCY CERTIFICATE - CPD Certified (optional with Virtual Classroom) Learn how to take blood ... train as a Phlebotomist FAST-TRACK YOUR PHLEBOTOMY TRAINING WITH OUR COMPLETE TRAINING PACKAGE 20% off - Multi-Course Discount Cover all stages from beginner through to Level 4 Available as Classroom or Virtual Classroom Complete your beginner to advanced training in 2 days Awards 2 accredited qualifications - Introduction to Phlebotomy and Advanced Phlebotomy qualifications Both courses are dually accredited (OCN & CPD) Geopace Certificate of Competency included with classroom attendance or available as an option when booking virtual classroom Covers all steps up to live blood draw Learn advanced skills and techniques Virtual Classroom options include comprehensive Practise@Home Training Kits (yours to keep) Basic understanding of English language required OPEN TO ALL APPLICANTS

Pilates is a great way to get your body moving, with low resistance body weight exercises it is suitable for any fitness level. If you work from home or are just wanted to improve yourself then look no further

For new users and the curious. Hello, For new users and the curious. IMPORTANT: Firstly, once you are signed up, send us your requests on what you would like to see within the demonstration and learn on the course. We will then cater for your needs and answer them during the session. This is designed to be an introduction into how to start a room by room survey using the Heat Engineer app, then sending this survey to the online dashboard. We will then go through the different steps to complete this heat loss report. Optional pages will also be worked through and shown. Examples of how to select the flow temperature and the heat source (heat pumps and boilers) will be presented once the heat loss result is completed.

Learn how to cannulate ... Nationally Recognised Qualification OCN Accredited - Level 3 (advanced) - Ireland Level 5 CPD Accredited - The CPD Certification Service Classroom or Virtual Classroom options Covers all steps for cannulating in arm or hand Practise on artificial arms and fake blood! Essential qualification for all IV therapies Phlebotomy training desirable but not essential Basic understanding of English language required OPEN TO ALL APPLICANTS

Personal development groups for practitioners with Bárbara Godoy A playground for therapists to expand our perception to metaphor, as a way to connect directly with the experience of the other, guided by folklore and fairytales. "Supportive, thought-provoking, emancipating, grounding" Tuesday Evenings Group 6 pm to 7.15 pm  (UK Time) Friday Lunchtime Group 12.30 pm to 1.45 pm (UK time) Spring Term Phase One - 2025 22 and 29 April 6, 13, 20 and 27 May 3, 10, 17 and 24 June Autumn Term Phase Two - 2025 23 and 30 September 7, 14, 21 and 28 October 4, 11, 18 and 25 November Winter Term Phase Three - 2026 20 and 27 January 3, 10, 17 and 24 February 3, 10, 17 and 24 March Winter Term Phase One - 2025 24 and 31 January 7, 14, 21, 28 February 7, 14, 21 and 28 March Spring Term Phase Two - 2025 25 April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 May 6, 13, 20 and 27 June Autumn Term Phase Three - 2025 26 September 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 October 7, 14, 21 and 28 November Venue: Online (Zoom) Fee: £350 per term or £900 the whole year Bárbara Godoy M.A., Adv. Dip. Exi. Psy. Existential Psychotherapist Group Leader, Counsellour, Lecturer and Supervisor, MBACP & UKCP accredited, SEA Professional Member, Director of Therapy Harley StreetBárbara’s academic contributions in London since 2008 include lecturing and researching on the theory and practice of Phenomenological Existential Therapy on Doctorate, MA and professional courses at the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology, Regent’s University and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling directed by Emmy van Deurzen. Bárbara has facilitated and designed therapeutic Group Work since 1997. She brought her earliest workshop: “Experiences” to large groups in The Netherlands, Italy, France, UK and Argentina. These awareness-intensive processes are a legacy of the human potential movement (HPM) of the 1960s, with techniques such as AUM Meditation Marathons, Psychodrama, Bioenergetics and Primal Feelings work. Organized by: