Introducing the Expanding Communities Project
Members of Arun’s community that settle here from other countries are to benefit from the help and support of a new team of community workers.
The new Expanding Communities team of six multilingual workers will be working across Arun and Chichester to develop links with migrant communities and to help them integrate successfully into the area.
The team has been selected and funded by the Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) Arunwide in partnership with the Public Service Board of the West Sussex Local Area Agreement and the Lloyds TSB Foundation.
The bilingual community workers, who between them speak Polish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, French and Spanish (Lithuanian will also be available) aim to encourage and promote migrants’ integration into British culture by helping them access crucial services and local support.
Each worker will specialisein helping sections of the community who speak a range of different languages, and will offer one-to-one support to individuals and families to assist their understanding and use of services.
This will include helping sign-post English language provision and assisting with access to services such as ante-natal classes, as well as filling in forms, assistance at interviews, translating important correspondence and helping families with school-related issues
They will also work with organisations and agencies to help improve access to and information about a wide range of services and work with local communities to support and promote integration.
Katrina Middleton, originally from Poland, is the Expanding Communities team leader and is delighted her team will be helping to make people from all over Europe feel welcome and confident in Arun.
“Learning how to fit into a different culture is very difficult and if you don’t have someone to support you, life in a different country can be very tough due to the language barrier and lack of cultural knowledge,” she said.
“My team and I are committed to helping these people to integrate quickly and effectively into the community so that they feel comfortable in their new home and are able to do things for themselves.
“We will also be working with local communities to encourage integration through joint activities such as reading children’s stories in different languages at the local libraries, involvement in Volunteer Awareness events and Family Fun Days, to break down barriers and foster good relationships.”
Councillor Paul Dendle, Cabinet Member for Finance and Central Services and a member of the Arun Community Cohesion Group, said: “I am positive that the Expanding Communities team will quickly become an asset to our area, not only to migrants but the community as a whole.
“Arun is home to nearly 150,000 people of different ages, backgrounds and beliefs. It prides itself on being a place that welcomes and readily integrates newcomers to the District, where every individual has access to the means of achieving a good quality of life, is able to participate and feels a strong sense of belonging.
“Integration is crucial to our society today, and we need to reach out to these new communities and truly integrate them to the British way of life, which is based on principles of fairness, free speech and economic opportunities for all. I am sure that the new community workers will help us to achieve this.”
Hilary Spencer, Chief Executive of CVS Arunwide, said: “The Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) Arunwide has been working in partnership to develop support and improve access to information and services for migrant worker communities since 2002.
“Arun has the second highest number of registered eastern European workers in the South East of England, with just over 4,000 registering between May 2004 and December 2007, and these people often need help to find their feet and start their new lives here.
“We are therefore extremely excited about the work that the new Expanding Communities team will be carrying out across both Arun and Chichester and are sure that their help will be gratefully received by the migrant communities.”
The majority of the team will be based in Dove Lodge in Littlehampton, but will also spend a lot of time in Bognor Regis and will cover the whole of Arun and Chichester. Pedro Garcia, a Portuguese community worker, will be based in Selsey.
The team will continue the production of a bulletin which will contain useful advice and information for local communities. It will be published in five different languages - Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Lithuanian and English - and be distributed through shops, cafes, Job Centre Plus, CAB’s, and District Council offices, as well as directly via employers.
For more information about the Expanding Communities team and the services they offer, contact Katrina Middleton on 01903 726229 or email teamleader.expcomm@cvs-arunwide.org.uk