We believe that language skills can enable people to have a social, economic and political voice, and that better and more ESOL provision fosters greater confidence, community and capacity for action. We also know however that language is not a silver bullet and we need to bring about structural change to create a more equal society. Our vision is of a London where people are fully able to participate in and help create a just and equal society, regardless of where they are from.
At English for Action, we:
- Provide participatory, action-orientated English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes for migrants across London.
- Organise for change, and support migrant communities to organise for change too.
- Take action on the issues that emerge in the classes, alongside our students.
- Develop and share our community organising and ESOL methods through research, training and external communications.
- Campaign for better-funded, more accessible ESOL provision.
We aim to reach those who may miss out on mainstream ESOL courses due to waiting lists or cost, or other access issues, and ensure migrants can access participatory ESOL classes and community organising opportunities that equip them to bring about change.
In 2024, with funding from One King's Impact, English for Action is launching EmpowerESOL in partnership with King's Social Mobility & Widening Participation, Empoderando Familias, and King's Volunteering. This grassroots initiative aims to empower Latin American parents to raise their voices on issues affecting their communities
Since our founding in 2006, we have:
- Delivered 10,800+ classes to over 4,000 students who are speakers of diverse languages including Amharic, Arabic, Bengali/Sylheti, Dari, Pashto, Polish, Spanish, and Urdu.
- Trained 1100+ people to teach ESOL in a participatory and empowering way.
- Supported multiple successful and wide-reaching campaigns including the Living Wage Campaign, Patients not Passports, Promote the Migrant Vote, and #LifttheBan, which included over 240 charities, trade groups, faith organisations, and businesses. The petition to #LifttheBan garnered over 180,000 signatures which were presented to the Home Office.
Supported migrants to organise, which has led to action on:
- Greater provision of ESOL: LoveESOL is a coalition of 40+ organisations, of which EFA is proud to be a founding member. We’ve held six major events at or with City Hall on the annual day of European Languages (26th September). Two MPs have publicly supported our work, and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has included it in his current manifesto.
- ESOL funding and civic engagement: EFA staff and students created a toolkit used in ESOL classrooms across the country, amplified a petition that gained over 42,000 signatures, and produced a key manifesto to bring together concerns from across the sector.
- Overcrowded housing: 60 ESOL students have supported a successful campaign which led Southwark Council to revise outdated and unjust housing policy. Members have also been involved in housing waiting list consultations, and succeeded in getting the ‘Temp2Settled’ policy dropped in Lambeth. Southwark ESOL students also launched a Housing Action group alongside Housing Action Southwark & Lambeth to support EFA students with acute housing challenges.
- Access to employment: EFA ESOL students in East London have helped to secure 100 paid apprenticeships from Hackney Council for those from migrant backgrounds, as well as working alongside local partners like ELATT to develop a relationship with the East End Trades Guild in the aim of securing further paid work placements for ESOL students.
- Better working conditions for cleaners: EFA has joined the Cleaners United coalition led by Amanda Walters, campaigning for improved working conditions for commercial cleaning workers across the UK. The Cleaners United coalition’s current Safe Sick Pay campaign, aiming to guarantee sick pay for all cleaners, has been recognised as part of the Labour Party manifesto ahead of the 2024 elections.
- Improving health outcomes: Over 100 ESOL students accessed multilingual informational workshops organised by EFA and led by qualified professionals on topics ranging from COVID-19 and vaccines to mental health and nutrition.
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Our Opportunities
Volunteer as a teaching assistant at King’s with English for Action and empower Latin American parents to speak up on issues that affect their communities.
