TimeBank, the national volunteering charity, is set to expand its English teaching project in Birmingham and Leicester after receiving a quarter of a million pounds from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).
In November 2013, TimeBank was awarded £1.12 million from DCLG to bring English language learning into the heart of the community and encourage long-term residents with little or no knowledge of English to take a full part in British life.
Since then it has recruited and trained 90 volunteers and worked with 14 community organisations to deliver informal and flexible English language teaching that has transformed the lives of more than 1,000 people in Birmingham and Leicester.
Many of the learners are Muslim women aged 19-40 from the Bangladeshi, Somali and Pakistani communities whose new-found English skills are enabling them to do vital, everyday things like visit the doctor or communicate with their children’s schools.
Not speaking English can lead to isolation and make it hard for people to take a full part in British life. The 2011 census figures showed that across England 1.7% of the population have either no, or poor spoken English, rising to 9% in some London boroughs.
The new award will enable TimeBank to expand its language project across the Midlands, launch new projects in London and reach 414 more learners, supporting more than 1,700 non-English speakers in total.
Communities Minister Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon said: “Already, just one year into these fantastic community-based English language projects, we have helped thousands of people take a more active role in British life. This new funding will help us reach even more.
“It is vital that everyone is able to read and write in English, which is why we have also asked councils to stop translating documents into foreign languages. Such translation diverts taxpayers’ money away from frontline services, and actively discourages integration. Learning English is essential to get a job, and move on and up in life.”
