Exploring History and Building Connections: LEAH students visit Hampton Court Palace
Last week, students from LEAH’s Buckingham Primary School class and their families enjoyed a memorable visit to Hampton Court Palace - a trip that blended culture, conversation, and community in the most heartwarming way.
Organised at short notice by coordinator Alice Podkolinski, the outing was initially a leap of faith.
"I’ll admit, because it was my first time, I was pretty nervous. I worried no one would turn up and that the language function of the excursion would be lost."
But she needn't have worried.
Despite a slow start and a few traffic delays, all five invited students - and volunteer tutor Audri - arrived just in time. With walking tours, travel envelopes, and tickets in hand, the group set off to explore the historic palace grounds together.
Alice explained that for many, the trip was about more than just history.
“The Buckingham class is small and quite independent. This trip was my first real opportunity to connect with them outside the classroom - and for them to get to know me. It became clear very quickly that the worksheets weren’t the only focus. The English flowed naturally, and the real learning came from simply spending time together.”
The social element was key. Conversations blossomed throughout the walk, and the group ended their visit with a coffee on the palace terrace.
Audri, one of LEAH’s dedicated tutors, said
"The recent visit to Hampton Court with the students from LEAH’s Buckingham Primary School and their families was great fun. I really enjoyed getting to know them on a one to one basis and we all learned a lot about the history of the palace. They told me they had a great time too."
One student had requested an extra ticket for his wife, who had a hospital appointment that morning. Thanks to thoughtful planning, he was able to meet her afterwards and spend the rest of the day with her exploring the palace. He was extremely grateful for the opportunity.
The outing proved to be a powerful reminder that language learning doesn’t stop at the classroom door. Through shared experiences, supportive conversations, and a few moments of laughter, this trip offered more than just a history lesson - it created memories and strengthened bonds within the LEAH community.
Audri has already volunteered for future trips, and the feedback from students and families has been overwhelmingly positive. Here's to more adventures that combine learning with living.
This trip was made possible thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund. #NationalLottery players
Kingston's new Mayor chooses LEAH as his charity
Councillor Noel Hadjimichael has been appointed the 191st Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston and his focus for his year is on resilience. LEAH is one of the two charities he has chosen to support given our work to promote resilience via our volunteer-led programme.
Sharon Landa, Chair of LEAH’s Board of Trustees, said:
'The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has been a loyal supporter of LEAH's work in supporting displaced people and sanctuary seekers, and it is a testament to the work of our volunteers and staff that the borough’s new Mayor, Cllr Noel Hadjimichael, has chosen to support LEAH during his mayoral term. The honour bestowed upon LEAH has done much to highlight the issues faced by some very vulnerable people in our communities and its impact cannot be underestimated. We look forward to working with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor over the coming year.'
Pantomime fundraiser for LEAH
In January 2025, Merton’s MP3 Players staged their twelfth family pantomime, Aladdin, and generously selected LEAH as the charity to receive the funds raised.
The pantomime was a fantastic success, and it was heartening to see the interest and support for our work within the community.
Thanks to the efforts of the MP3 Players, nearly £2,000 was raised to help us continue offering English lessons to vulnerable people in Merton.
We are incredibly grateful for their support.
For further ideas about ways you could support us, have a look at our 'Other Ways to Help' page here: LEAH (Learn English at Home) – Other Ways To Help
Alternatively, please contact our Fundraising Manager Aileen at fundraising_manager@leah.org.uk
Award for Hounslow volunteers
Following a visit from Councillor Ajmer Grewal to our Heston English class in October 2024, Cllr Grewal nominated LEAH for an award for our outstanding work within the local community.
Our coordinator Savannah and long standing volunteer Alison, who has supported the Heston class since it started, attended the awards ceremony on Tuesday 29th April at the Mayor's Parlour and were delighted when they found out they had won the Recognition award.
The Mayor of Hounslow, Councillor Karen Smith, presented the award and Savannah and Alison were delighted to accept it on behalf of all the Heston volunteers.
A big thank you to our Hounslow volunteers. Without their hard work and dedication we would not have been able to receive this award
Online art classes
Every term we have a speaker week when we usually invite an external speaker to deliver lessons on a relevant topic.
This term, we did something a little different. One of our wonderful volunteers, a retired art teacher, Jane, and one of our Entry Level 2 students who happens to be an artist ran a very inspiring and uplifting art workshop. The student artist started with us as a 1-1, joined our remote group class and has made brilliant progress in her English. It was great to see her confidently lead the group.
Following on from International Women's Day last week, the students continued the theme of celebrating women during the art class. They discussed and compared paintings of and by women and then they were given the chance to participate in a guided portrait drawing session using famous British women who have English as a second language as inspiration (see photos to draw).
Thanks to funding from Arts for All, were able to post all the participating students some art materials to use for this.
Some of the portraits drawn are shown below, and give an idea of what students created in the short time they had. Some of the students had a real hidden talent!
Here are some key take aways:
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- 42 students participated.
- Students were able to use words for feelings (about art) in a safe and non triggering way.
- Students were given the opportunity to do something new.
- Students were encouraged by the lead students's improvement from when she first started drawing. The lead student's message was: "practice makes perfect" and "be kind to yourself along the way".
- Students were incredibly focussed during 20 minutes drawing. We had relaxing music playing and it felt meditative and grounding. We discussed the importance of finding time for yourself.
- The lead student was incredibly grateful for the experience. It has been wonderful to see her work so well with the lead volunteer in the lead up and she delivered the sessions brilliantly.
Here is some feedback from the day.
One client was very proud of what she had created, saying:
I have never drawn before
One of our trustees who attended enthused
The class today was novel and uplifting! What a great idea to do this – many thanks to you, Jane and Slywia. Please pass on my congratulations to them. Also I think it is a first in that a student/client participated in a centre stage role in a lesson which LEAH as an organisation wants more of and which definitely sets a precedent for us to do more similar classes involving our students on a range of subjects.
New Chief Executive Officer
We are delighted to welcome Sohail Faruqi to the team, as our new Chief Executive Officer.
Sohail has a lifelong commitment to tackling social inequality and barriers to inclusion and social mobility, partly driven by his own lived experiences but also from a sense of social justice. A key barrier is a lack of functional English and tackling educational inequality is a prime personal endeavour for him, as education unlocks positive life chance opportunities.
Sohail has worked as a Director of Education in local authorities and been a Chief Executive of a city council, as well as holding a Regional Director role in the civil service. For the last 13 years he has worked in the charity sector, first with a Learning Disabilities charity and prior to joining LEAH, with an education and social mobility charity.
Over the years, he has benefitted from volunteering experiences and been a trustee of several charities.
LEAH receives £10,000 funding from Heathrow Community Trust
We are delighted to have been awarded a grant of £10,000 under Heathrow Community Trust’s Communities Together grant programme which we will use over the next two years to support our learners living in Hounslow.
Learners will be able to access our weekly community English class at the Heston Royal British Legion, and will also have the opportunity to take part in trips and guided walks to local places of interest such as Kew Gardens, Bushy Park, Boston Manor House and Hampton Court.
Learners will be supported to interact with others, make friends, practice their English, and feel part of their community, and will benefit from improved wellbeing, a better ability to access health services, and improved access to opportunities for progression, including into further education, volunteering and employment.
Savannah Smith, our ESOL and Activities Coordinator, said of the grant, “This is a monumental stepping stone that will help us bridge the gap in social integration for our students.”
Heathrow Community Trust is an independent grant-making charity. Set up in 1996 by Heathrow Airport’s then owners BAA, Heathrow Community Trust’s mission is to enable communities to thrive, by having a positive impact on the lives of people in the communities surrounding Heathrow Airport. In the past three years it has awarded more than £1.1 million through its grant programmes, funding projects which empower young people, protect the environment and enable active local communities. Funds come from an annual donation from Heathrow Airport, fines imposed on aircraft that breach noise limits, Team Heathrow donations, passenger donations and Heathrow colleagues who raise funds for the Trusts.
More information about the fund and how to apply for grants is available on the website www.heathrowcommunitytrust.org
Learners in Hounslow
Learn English at Home recently conducted an in-depth survey of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in Hounslow, providing insights into their educational goals, barriers, and the critical steps needed to create more effective learning pathways for these residents.
Here are our key findings from the 15 people that participated.
Limited access to information on learning opportunities
Many participants were unsure where to find reliable information about available learning options. Only five respondents could name specific places to seek learning resources, mentioning local libraries, Meadowbank’s adult education services, the job centre, and churches as potential sources.
Strong motivation to learn
All participants expressed a desire to continue their education, citing key motivations such as:
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Improving their English language skills
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Developing new skills for career growth
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Enhancing job prospects
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Making daily life tasks more manageable
Interest in targeted learning areas
Many respondents indicated a desire to continue to improve their English. In addition to this several were interested in courses that improved Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills, suggesting a need for specialised programmes that align with career pathways.
Barriers to continued learning
The three main barriers to continue learning included:
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Feeling like their English wasn’t good enough
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Not having enough money
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Having to find a job
Recommendations
These findings underscore the need for:
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Improved signposting and outreach about learning opportunities in places frequented by the community. By increasing visibility in community hubs—libraries, job centers, places of worship, and other public spaces—learners can more easily discover relevant educational resources.
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Increasing awareness of free and affordable learning opportunities.
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Flexible learning options that accommodate work schedules, such as evening and weekend classes.
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Consideration of ESOL that integrate other subjects such as STEM providing a stepping stone to further learning.
LEAH will be delivering a programme to highlight further learning opportunities to learners in Hounslow in February 2025.
To discuss partnership opportunities or explore new programmes, please contact Gurpreet at operations-manager@leah.org.uk
LEAH expands into Merton
We have an exciting new service development to announce. From 1st November 2024, we expanded our English language support service into the borough of Merton by taking over a similar charity to ours - Learn English Together in Merton. They also provide English 1:1 and class support, and have a very similar ethos, values and commitment to learning. You can find out more at www.let.org.uk
Earlier this year we were approached by their trustees as they saw that LEAH, as a larger organisation, with dedicated operational, fundraising and volunteer resource, could better ensure the continued reach and impact of free English language support across Merton.
For the next 12 months, the Merton service will continue be run separately out of Vestry Hall in Mitcham and will be overseen by the LEAH Director and trustees. The organisation and its operations will be gradually integrated into ours, and we look forward to sharing more news about this important next step in the development and expansion of LEAH’s unique service.
Wellbeing Support for ESOL Learners
A new wellbeing booklet has been created to support ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners at Entry 1 and Entry 2 levels, thanks to funding from The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector Grants. This resource offers six key lessons focused on promoting wellbeing while improving learners' English skills. Topics covered in the booklet include understanding health services, healthy eating, exercise, sleep, volunteering and managing feelings.
In addition to the lessons, the booklet provides essential signposting to health and wellbeing services in Kingston, helping learners navigate local support. It also highlights local services and activities that ESOL learners can engage with to enhance their integration into the community.
Accompanied by comprehensive lesson plans, this resource is designed to help volunteers and teachers easily incorporate wellbeing themes into their classes, making it a valuable tool for both educators and students.
Download the wellbeing booklet here: Wellbeing Booklet Kingston 2024
Download the accompanying lesson plans here: LEAH (Learn English at Home) – Wellbeing ESOL