ACCORD

ACCORD is a group that was formed as a result of new national communities choosing to live and work within our area. Its vision statement states that:“ACCORD exists to promote effective and harmonious communication, understanding and acceptance between different cultural groups in the Bognor, Chichester and Littlehampton areas, and to promote the integration (not assimilation) of different cultural groups into British society.

”This month we hear from Miranda Cormell, the chair of the ACCORD group, about the work they do to provide help and support for people of different nationalities settling in the Arun area.

In its early days members of ACCORD met regularly with representatives of the police, Arun District Council, health and education professionals etc, all with the aim of informing policy through gaining a greater understanding of the needs of the new migrant communities. The group also organised a number of events such as a Christmas Family Fun Day, two Employment and Information Days and an International Film and Discussion Evening.

Latterly however the group has concentrated on two main projects. The first of these is a Polish Supplementary School for 7 – 11 year olds which meets for two hours a week in term time and aims to help children retain their first language and to learn about their national culture and history. Research shows that children in supplementary schools such as this benefit in other ways such as their English language development and their overall understanding of the world around them. The school has been successfully running for 4 terms now and has secure funding to the end of 2011.

The second project is an International Social Club which launched in January 2010. This meets approximately monthly and aims to bring people together socially in a safe environment for organised activities such as skittles, dance evenings, games evenings etc.

ACCORD works closely with other groups, in particular the CVS-Arunwide Expanding Communities Team of bi-lingual community workers, and also with the EMW Project which is an English language teaching project which, as well as teaching English, aims “to provide a cultural and inter-relational bridge in order to foster greater understanding and acceptance between the migrant and more established populations of Bognor Regis and area.” (see www.emwp.org.uk )

If you would like more information about ACCORD, please contact Miranda Cormell on 07818 292914.

 

If you operate a scheme or want to tell us about your area get in touch by emailing community.safety@arun.gov.uk