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Thousands to benefit from opening of £6 million fund to
help adults learn English and play an active role in British
life
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Bids open today (5 September 2018) for the government’s
integrated communities English language programme
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Councils, charities and other providers can apply for
funding
The government’s integrated communities English language
programme, set to begin next April, aims to tackle one of the key
causes of poor integration, a lack of English language skills.
Councils, charities and other providers will have the opportunity
to bid for
funding to run new programmes which offer creative ways
of teaching English to local residents.
Communities Secretary, the Rt Hon MP said:
Being able to speak English can transform lives and help people
play a full, active role in British life.
No one deserves to miss out on the opportunity to build
self-confidence, interact with their neighbours, make friends
and gain employment. This fund of up to £6 million will help us
build even stronger communities.
Individuals with low levels of English will be able to reach
their full potential through a wide range of local services
including those provided by charities and other organisations.
The new programme follows on from the government funded
community-based English language programme, which has already
supported over 73,000 adults over 5 years, specifically focusing
on women who are economically inactive.
Faith Action ‘Creative English’, London
Shagufta has adult children who interpret for her, yet she
struggled to bond with her grandchildren. She enrolled for
mainstream English for Speakers of Other Languages classes, but
found it difficult so stopped attending after 2 or 3 sessions.
Since signing up to community-based tuition, she has not missed a
single class as she finds the learning activities useful for
everyday life. She is now able to teach her 4-year-old
granddaughter nursery songs.
Time Bank: Ashiana Project – Talking Together, Birmingham
Razna has been living in Birmingham for 17 years with her husband
and 2 children. She avoided travelling more than 300 metres away
from her home or visiting the city centre as she feared getting
the bus or train. Community-based training provided by local
volunteers helped build her confidence to purchase a ticket and
travel to the centre. She now uses the train to visit the doctor
and take her children to museums.
Fatema couldn’t speak English when she arrived in the UK 3 years
ago, and mainly stayed at home as she had not been to school in
Afghanistan. The informal Talk English course helped her to
settle into a learning environment and develop basic study
skills. After building her confidence, Fatema has now moved on to
a more advance ESOL course with Lancashire Adult Learning and
took her first exam in June.
With almost 3,500 responses, the government’s Integrated Communities
Strategy green paper set out proposals to support people
to speak English, including a new community-based English
language programme from April 2019. The government will issue its
response to the consultation later this year.
At the last Census, around 770,000 people living in England said
they spoke little or no English.
Higher proportions of women than men reported they cannot speak
English well or at all across most ethnic groups, and overall
Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups have the highest
proportions of people aged 16+ who said they cannot speak English
well or at all, compared to other ethnic groups.
With just 35% in employment and 59%
economically inactive, Pakistani and Bangladeshi women of
working age were the least likely to be employed and the most
likely to be economically inactive.
