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We are delighted to have benefitted from two years of evaluation by the Sociology department at the University of Central London (UCL). This research was conducted to evaluate the value of our work supporting asylum seekers, refugees and migrants with English language learning.

Benefitting from detailed data analysis, interviews and focus groups, this external research gives a detailed understanding about the impact of our services, the importance of our volunteers, and how we can improve what we do.

Please find below links to the UCL Year 1 and Year 2 research summaries. These provide an overview of why and how the research was conducted, a summary of key insights, and recommendations for how to enhance the delivery and impact of our services in future.

The first year UCL evaluation identified the ways in which LEAH makes a significant difference to the lives of those we support. Clients are shown as making progress in English, being able to better support their children and families, engage with schools, GPs and health services, progress in education and / or work.  All of which has a positive impact on their health, wellbeing and future opportunities.

For the second year UCL evaluation, our volunteers were the key focus due to the vital role they play in LEAH’s service delivery. Many of our incredible team of volunteers contributed to focus groups and surveys, creating a wealth of information and quotes that were included in the report.

Volunteers are shown to be very supportive of LEAH’s work, and grateful for the ongoing training and development opportunities that are offered. Which is what we do in return for their invaluable dedication.

There were a few challenges and barriers identified through the evaluations, most of which we are already working on to address. However, we were happy to read that the evaluation demonstrated how LEAH provides ‘a service very resource efficient that no other national or local more formal services could match’.

Many thanks to our learners and volunteers for supporting this external research, and for sharing their experiences, which is vital in helping us to improve what we do.

Thanks to Dr Olga Cara, Centre for Sociology of Education and Equity, University College London.  Grateful thanks also to our funder, The Rayne Foundation, for providing LEAH with the opportunity to demonstrate the value and impact of our work.

LEAH UCL Year 1 Evaluation - Executive Summary

LEAH UCL Year 2 Evaluation - Executive Summary

We’re delighted to have been awarded a £20,000 grant from The National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards for All to develop a programme of social integration trips and activities for our learners over the next 2 years.

Bringing asylum seekers and refuges together to have fun, learn English and connect with others while visiting places they wouldn’t usually be able to go to will be hugely empowering for people’s mental and physical health.  We can’t wait to plan our first trip!

Thank you to the Community Fund for giving LEAH this opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives!

On Monday 17th June 2024, Savannah our new coordinator led a trip to The Victoria and Albert Museum to coincide with the celebration of Refugee Week and the theme of “Our Home” - from the places we gather to share meals to our collective home, Planet Earth: everyone is invited to celebrate what “Our Home” means to them.

Savannah reported back:

"The V&A Museum is currently showcasing an exhibition about Naomi Campbell called ‘Naomi in Fashion’. While waiting for all students to join us at our meeting point we were discussing this exhibition, only to turn around and see Naomi Campbell in the flesh!

Students were encouraged to go and say hello to her and managed to speak with her which for one student was a dream come true, as she was a former model in her country of origin.

The V&A had organised a clay making session for us, where we could mould and make an item to then add to a garden scene to symbolise a collective home.

Students were amazingly creative and began to create very innovative designs.

One student specifically enjoyed this and when asked about their thoughts on the clay making session they said: ‘It caused me to get away from that stress for a while and I remembered my childhood’.

This reminds us how essential it is to help our students to find escapism and to feel excited about the new city they are now living in.

Before the trip ended, we took time to explore the museum. We took a participant led approach and many students were proudly sharing stories of their country after finding plates and rugs from their cities. It was amazing to see their faces light with excitement when they found something they recognised.

Overall, it was a very happy and successful trip, helping students to discover something new in London.

A big thank you to our volunteers that helped, you were essential in making this day a success! We are also so grateful for the V&A who covered travel costs and provided refreshments for everyone"

On Thursday May 23rd 2024, 10 volunteers, 26 students and 16 additional family members received free tickets to the gardens as part of the Kew Gardens Community Open Week. During the week, the gardens became open and accessible to a number of local community groups. The day involved various free artistic and holistic activities that were free to join including print-making and yoga. However, with the sun out, our groups were more keen to explore the world's largest collection of living plants.

Some of the groups managed to walk the breadth of the garden. One group braved the high tree-top walk, and another group managed all of the stairs up to the Pagoda.  It was wonderful to see group members have the opportunity to make new friends, bond over their children and practise English. Many of the students live in built up areas and have limited access to green spaces so it was a fantastic opportunity for our students and their children to be in nature. As a thank you for participating in the day, everyone also received a free ticket to use at Kew Gardens on another day.

Volunteer Zubeya told us, “My group and I had a wonderful time. And we were very lucky with the weather today. We managed to get from one end of the gardens to the other and fitted in a number of major attractions!"

Thanks to a kind donation of paper bags from Specsavers, and a generous financial donation from a LEAH supporter, we were also able to provide food bags for all attendees, which proved very popular.

Last year Learn English at Home supported over 400 people to learn English, gain confidence, and understand more about their local community.

Our hybrid service is reaching more vulnerable people and we can now support them for up to two years. Our service guidelines have been amended so we can continue to support learners when they are moved outside our core boroughs (Hounslow, Richmond, and Kingston) due to the housing crisis. We couldn't offer this support without our wonderful volunteers.

You can read a round-up of our impact here.

We were very sorry to hear of the recent passing of our long-standing volunteer Jean Errington, who volunteered with us for 9 years.

With kind permission from her family, we would like to pay tribute to Jean and her much valued contribution to our work.

Jean joined us in 2016, having read about LEAH in her church magasine. After successfully completing her training, Jean supported six 1:1 students, working with three students face to face in their home and another three online.

Our Coordinator, Kay, who worked with Jean, remembers her as a dedicated, reliable, fun and empathetic volunteer, who was delighted to be able to help those who needed English language support.

“Her gentle kindness and calm, practical approach to teaching really helped her learners to feel cared for and valued, and it was impressive to see how quickly she took to online teaching.”

Jean was also a support tutor at our Literacy Class in Whitton from 2019 until COVID struck. She was universally loved by all her students, so much so that most of the learners wanted to sit next to her each week, and Kay had to share her out to make sure everyone had their turn!

Jean made the students, LEAH volunteers and staff laugh every week in class. One of the volunteer tutors who taught alongside her paid tribute, “lovely Jean - she was great. She was so reliable, patient, and funny. I'm shouting out - thank you, Jean!”

Jean’s last teaching pairing was particularly special, as Jean and her learner really bonded over their joint love of family, children, and hobbies. They began their lessons online, and then met face to face in Kingston, visiting All Saints Church as part of their lesson and having a coffee in the church café. Her learner said of Jean, “Sadness is losing a dearly loved and appreciated person like Jean.”

Jean will be much missed by us at LEAH, but we will remember her with a smile. We are thankful to have known her and to have had her as part of our LEAH volunteer community for so many years.

On 16th May 2024, our Richmond volunteers were recognised and celebrated for all their hard work at the annual Community Hero Awards organised by Richmond Council.

The award “recognises a community group, charity, or organisation that has made a significant contribution to fostering equalities and inclusion in Richmond, through local work that breaks down existing barriers and connects our communities.”

As noted at the awards ceremony, the Richmond volunteers won the award due to the tailored language support that we offer to all our students which helps them to access local education and support and feel part of their local community.

We are so proud of all our volunteers, and it was wonderful that our Richmond team were rewarded with this win.

Richmond volunteer Amanda was presented with the Award by Councillor Nancy Baldwin (on the left).

On Tuesday 7 May, our social media volunteer, Sukhman Kaur, won the University of West London Digital Volunteer of the Year award. The celebration of her contribution to Learn English at Home and Boston Manor House didn’t stop there as she received a gold award for over 140 hours of volunteering and was shortlisted for the Culture and Heritage Volunteer of the Year and the overall Volunteer of the Year award.

“I'm immensely grateful for the opportunity to volunteer with LEAH. It's been a journey of learning and growth, especially in the realm of digital marketing. Every experience has enriched my skills and broadened my horizons."

Sukhman first discovered Learn English at Home at the UWL Volunteer Fair in 2023. The event inspired us to expand our volunteering opportunities, and we developed a new social media volunteer role. Sukhman applied for the role and started her volunteer journey at the start of this year.

Sukhman has been instrumental in delivering a calendar plan of posts across our social media platforms highlighting the work of LEAH and tying this into national campaigns.

As a charity with limited resources, Sukhman has provided LEAH with a much-needed digital and creative resource, enabling us to communicate regularly with our social media audiences.

Sukhman has proved to be a passionate, hardworking and diligent member of our team and we are delighted that her volunteering efforts have been recognised by her university.

If you are a student and would like to find out how you can help us to support some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, please contact Laura our Volunteer and Training Manager at volunteermanager@leah.org.uk

Learn English at Home (LEAH) is seeking an ESOL and Activities Coordinator to join their team, offering up to £32,000 annually for a full-time, permanent position of 35 hours per week. The successful candidate will be accountable to the Operations Manager/Coordinator Team Leader.

With over 40 years of experience, LEAH aims to empower individuals from diverse backgrounds by breaking language barriers and fostering community engagement.

Responsibilities include learner assessment, volunteer support, and service development, providing a dynamic and impactful role in transforming lives. The position requires interaction with vulnerable populations.

The closing date for applications is Friday 19 April. Visit our vacancies page to find out more.

On Monday 18th March, Janet MacKay, our longest standing volunteer of over 20 years, was presented with a Volunteer Community Award by the Mayor of Kingston.  Attending with her husband and LEAH Coordinator, Kay Bascombe, Janet was delighted to receive her framed certificate of achievement.

“It was a great honour to be nominated. Volunteering for LEAH makes me feel part of the community and I hope that through teaching women English, they feel part of the community too”.

Janet’s story is a remarkable one. In 2004 she saw a poster at her son’s school asking for LEAH volunteers to teach English. Over the years, Janet’s students have been from North and South Korea, Sudan, China, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Iran, Sri Lanka and Syria. And all with one thing in common – the desire to learn English and settle into their local communities.

Janet has supported students with multiple challenges – some who have been trafficked to the UK, students with mental health issues or women who may have very low literacy levels due to a lack of education in their home country.

As well as the teaching she provides to our students, Janet also provides a lot of support to other volunteers, sharing her skills and experiences at training sessions or volunteer meetings.

Janet's dedication to LEAH and our students is inspirational. Having a long-standing volunteer of her calibre means so much. and we are delighted that was recognised through the Mayor of Kingston’s Community Award.