Thanks to funding from Cumbria Community Foundation and The National Lottery Awards for All fund, CDEC has worked with Furness Multicultural Community Forum to develop sessions and resources for schools- EYFS to KS3.
Through this partnership, CDEC has co-delivered workshops with FMCF and people with the lived experience of being a refugee with schools, pre-schools or nurseries and other community organisatons. The aim is to discuss the facts surrounding refugees and people seeking asylum and to explore how schools can support children and families in their communities in building communities of welcome.
What's the Community Integration Project about?
The project began in 2018 and developed infrastructure to support the integration of Cumbria’s migrant and resident communities through a community development approach – delivered by AWAZ Cumbria in partnership with voluntary and community sector and statutory partners. Cumbria Community Integration Project used a community asset-based approach and focussed resource on a series of interventions that:
- Strengthen communities
- Reduce the impact upon services
CDEC worked with teachers and children in primary schools to understand issues and find ways to support children both coming into new communities and those in existing communities to welcome their new neighbours, building communities of welcome.
CDEC also trained nursery and Early Year practitioners to increase school readiness of young children from non-English-speaking families and encourage community integration.
For the final stage of the project, CDEC produced a Place of Welcome Toolkit (which is available here) for nurseries and Early Years. It is a practical learning resource and has been produced with help from Cumbria CC Early Years team. It is free and open for use by any Early Years practitioners working with EAL families. Please spread the word!