Forum Topic

Comment on Steve Pound's article and Christmas Greeting

How good to hear good and Christian sentiments being expressed at Christmas towards new communities.  The contribution new communities make by supporting each other and those in greatest need is too often over-looked. People with enthusiasm and an appetite for hard work and self improvement characterize migrants.  Refugees are often those who are at the very heart of an over thrown government, or regime, people who are engaged and educated.  I hope everyone will make greater effort to welcome newcomers to Ealing in 2011.  From my position as Volunteer Centre Manager I am privileged to meet many people from diverse backgrounds who are looking to find ways to volunteer their skills to help others and learn about English culture, improve their command of spoken English.

Lizzie Saunders, Volunteer Centre Manager ● 5590d3 Comments

I am glad that Steve is involved with Northern Ireland as it is a great place to be. My girlfriend who passed away last year was from the Giant's Causeway and i have been twice this year to visit the family. There is a lovely old fashioned gentleness about the people that i meet there and it is a place which deserves for people to live in peace. The place she grew up was not a place of conflict but sadly over the years some of the attitudes that blighted some smaller parts spread across the province. However there are people I know who may have been quite hard line in the past who now have moved on, however there is still plenty to do as the so called freedom fighters have turned into gangsters who now control the drug trade. Jobs are a great issue there where in a country of high unemployment some companies will employ large groups of say lithuanians rather than locals on very low pay (they provide accomodation). This causes some resentment as they people without the skills feel totally excluded. But economically compared with the republic they are better off up north. having just had a friend from Dublin stay with me whilst working over here I can see that we need to support them. However Eire has a lot of questions to answer about economic management and the Banks and speculators over the Housing Boom where now thousands upon thousands of apartments lay empty half built or completed and unsold. A strong belief that major corruption has taken place exists. Anyway as an Englishman with plenty of Welsh blood I would wish a happy Christmas to all those of Irish Heritage and of course Scots Heritage!!

Peter Chadburn ● 5589d

A key aspect is English. Without the language people are pretty well condemned to Poverty. that is the thing that has kept back some communities and also affected their children's prospects despite wanting the best for their children. My belief is that a special school to ensure that children have english before they start at any school would be important as the normal schools can not cope. to have a class of 32 7 year olds with one or two who can not speak english condemns those 2 to the margins as their specialist support tends to be quite limited. concentrate that effort in one or two centres and then the children can assimilate easier into the local primaries as they will have the language skills to mix and make friends.

Peter Chadburn ● 5589d

Well said, Lizzie!

Robin Taylor ● 5589d