Since late March 2022, refugees escaping war torn Ukraine have been arriving in Richmond upon Thames.
Many have assembled at Ukrainian Café Prosperity in Central Twickenham for social, and physical support.
They have continued to arrive at an increasing pace with over 300 refugees registered with Prosperity to receive basic support such as food and clothing. By late July 140 people had expressed a wish to learn or improve their English. Almost all of the newcomers are women and children; most were confused and traumatized. They are being housed locally by a sponsor family or in some cases resident Ukrainian families.
Volunteers at the café have operated in shifts to assemble and send over 50 lorry loads of provisions to Poland and beyond. Multicultural Richmond with the support of Richmond Council is working with the Prosperity Café volunteers to plan and promote English tuition.
In addition, we have applied successfully to Vodafone to acquire 100 SIM cards, free for 6 months, to distribute to the refugees.
Most of the younger people are unable to access mainstream education, though some have been assisted to do this, and a few of working age have found jobs locally. Our English tutor sets a simple written assessment test (pictured) at weekly social gatherings at the café. This enables us to identify students and assess their standard of English.
We are working with the Prosperity voluntary group to provide English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and dancing lessons.
There are waiting lists for ESOL across London. According to the Guardian 30/6/22 ‘Language Schools and Community Groups have reported waiting lists of thousands for English Classes for Ukrainians. The Ukrainian Institute for London reported a waiting list of 5,000 for online or in person classes Maria Montague, their Deputy Director said, ‘There is definitely a huge huge demand, the more classes that are supported the better’’.
Since 15th May, we have been running an intermediate language class with 25 registered students at the Prosperity Café, Twickenham. On the 1st June, we started a beginners’ class with 30 registered students at our cultural centre on Kneller Road in Whitton. On the 27th July we are beginning a second class for more advanced English learners. Full details can be found here
Dance Group Support, Ukrainian Dance Ensemble Stefania: This dance group formed in May under the lead volunteer and has already united 9 young talented dancers who fled from the war from different parts of Ukraine and met at Prosperity Café’s Social Club.
The students are keen to practice Ukrainian traditional folk and contemporary dancing. Currently they meet regularly to rehearse at MCR’s premises and a local church hall and have performed successfully in public on 6 occasions since May including The Twickenham Exchange, Marble Hill School and just recently at the High Tide Festival in Twickenham.
This initiative is planned to continue throughout the next year and the number of dance students is expected to increase. They have just been featured on the BBC News London website https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-62140880. There is also a small clip of our tutor teaching students at the Prosperity café.
Planned Performances
- Twickenham Exchange
- Teddington Methodist Church
- The Vineyard Richmond
- St Margaret’s Fair Eel
- Pie Twickenham
Their professional choreographer is very experienced and provides her time voluntarily.
Future plans: Ukrainian Social Evenings: We are working to organise regular Ukrainian social evenings held at our cultural centre in Whitton starting in August. Throughout the year, this forum is seeking to deliver entertainment, food, a community focal point and help to disseminate vital local information. It is intended to provide relief from the stresses and trauma of a being a refugee and an opportunity for people to socialise, network and make new friends. We hope to invite the wider community to attend events at a later stage, once we feel our Ukrainian attendees have become comfortable with format and regularity of the event.
Our longer-term objective is to support refugees to integrate, flourish and contribute to British society faster than if left unsupported. We expect up to 100 people to attend these evening events.
