Students on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses across Wiltshire College & University Centre have marked Refugee Week with a moving charity project.
The large cohort of students – who study at either WCUC’s Chippenham, Salisbury and Trowbridge campuses – have put together a collection of real-life stories and published them in a book entitled ‘Journeys to Wiltshire’.
Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary. Established in 1998 in the UK, the annual festival aligns with World Refugee Day, celebrated globally on 20th June. This year’s event ran from 17th-23rd June.
WCUC has around 250 students for whom English is not their first language, including those who have fled warzones in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan and others. These students can often lack confidence, so studying an ESOL course can give them the opportunity to increase their English grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
To conclude the academic year and to mark Refugee Week, students collated stories into a book that highlighted their lives and the challenges they faced before they relocated and settled in Wiltshire.
The book was launched at a special event held at the Salisbury campus during Refugee Week. Priced at £4, all sales profits will be divided equally between three charities that support refugees and asylum seekers both in the UK and internationally: The Refugee Council, Refugee Community Kitchen and The British Red Cross.
Tom Evans, Lecturer in ESOL and English at WCUC, said: “We are immensely proud of the work we do with students across Wiltshire for whom English is not their first language. The skills these leaners gain on one of our ESOL courses will be hugely beneficial as they settle into new lives in Wiltshire.
“Many students went through immense challenges before relocating to the UK and therefore have very moving and interesting stories to tell about their previous life in another country and the hardships they faced on their journeys to the UK. Collating these stories into a book in an effort to raise money for charity seemed like the perfect way to raise awareness of the issues our students have faced and to raise money for three wonderful charities that support refugees both in the UK and internationally.”
‘Journeys to Wiltshire’ is still available to buy and can be purchased from Rocketship Bookshop in Salisbury, or from the WCUC Online Shop via https://shop.wiltshire.ac.uk priced at £4 when collected from a WCUC campus or £6 including postage to anywhere in the UK.
