Meet Conversation Club Leeds

Conversation Club Leeds is a small charity which helps asylum seekers and refugees to make friends, practise speaking English and gain confidence in their new surroundings. We caught up with them about their work, and the Microgrant they had from The Leeds Fund. 

Can you tell us a bit about Conversation Club Leeds? 

Conversation Club Leeds provides a friendly place for asylum seekers and refugees to meet, practise speaking English and learn about English culture and way of life. At the meetings we also have occasional visits from specialists for topics such as drama, music and health. In conversation with our guests we often hear about what they would like to do whilst they are not allowed to work and may be living in communities where there is little integration with local people.   

What has funding from The Leeds Fund Microgrants enabled you to do? 

Our application for the Microgrant was centred on physical activities, mostly within the West Yorkshire area. The fund enabled us to pay for Leeds Cards for individuals and then use them for reduced price admission to Active Leeds Leisure Centres, including Garforth, John Charles, Fearnville and Scott Hall. Bus fares were also provided. Use of the gyms and swimming were the most popular and over 50 asylum seekers and refugees took part in the scheme. We were also able to provide outings for groups, including families, for example local walks, Abbey House Museum Kirkstall, Haworth and Scarborough. 

Can you tell us about the impact of what you do on the people you work with?  

Our core activity of providing English conversation in a relaxed atmosphere helps increase confidence in starting to speak for those with no English and improves the language skills of those who have learnt English from non-native speakers. Concerning the Microgrant activities, many of our guests were very enthusiastic and went to the Leisure Centres several times per week. Those living in hotels expressed the enjoyment of having an external activity and many, at the start, were amused by the challenge of travelling to the Centres on public transport. Many said that the physical workouts took their minds away temporarily from their difficult background situations. The staff at the Centres were very welcoming and our guests enjoyed being in a supportive environment. The outings, especially during the school holidays, were welcomed, especially by parents who had little income to provide activities for their families. During these full day activities there were lots of opportunities for relaxed conversations. 

What are some of the biggest challenges you face as an organisation?  

We are entirely run by volunteers and the demands on key volunteers’ time are considerable. One of the biggest challenges is that the number of asylum seekers and refugees coming to our club is increasing and it may become difficult to provide our activities effectively. All our income is from grants and donations, usually awarded annually, therefore we must be constantly mindful of expenditure, for example on rent and travel costs for guests. We are constantly seeking further grants in order to run our core activities. Also we like to provide small sums of money for emergencies such as someone needing food, clothing, mobile phone or shelter for the night. Income for the additional physical activities, as provided by Leeds Community Foundation, was very welcome and we shall continue to seek similar funds. 

How is your organisation preparing for the future, and what kind of funding is needed? 

Increasingly, as asylum seekers become refugees, they talk to us about the difficulty of finding housing. Lack of fluent English and knowledge of UK life continues to be one of the barriers to smooth transition into independent housing and work. We are expanding our ability to signpost our guests to organisations that can help with food, clothing, housing, legal issues, formal language courses and health providers. Funding is needed to provide bus tickets so that guests can come to our meetings, for rent of the meeting hall and snacks and for emergencies. So that we can enhance the lives of our guests, as in the past, grants are needed to cover food and travel for outings, for specialists to visit our meetings, and to pay for admission to sports facilities.