I CAME HERE: 1939 TO PRESENT DAY

I Came Here was produced by a core group of volunteers who are migrants who came to Leicester between 2002 and 2007 working with film maker Tove Dalenius. The DVD was installed in the Community Gallery at the Newarke Houses Museum and was used as part of the Moving Here exhibition at New Walk Museum,  It is available on request to schools, community centres and libraries in and around Leicester.

The Heritage Lottery Fund supported the production of the DVD.

The Welcome Programme took place at Babington Community Technology College between April 2004 and April 2006 and addressed issues around integration and diversity. Babington CTC had experienced a relatively sudden increase in the diversity of its student body. The project aimed to contribute towards fostering a welcoming, cohesive environment to encourage the engagement and achievement of all students.

Projects undertaken included a ‘Welcome magazine’; the ‘Multi Faith Babington’ DVD; ‘Take a Look Around’, a DVD about the different neighbourhoods where Babington students live; and animations about dual heritage identity.

The monitoring and tracking of participants showed that the programme contributed to a greater sense of integration within the college. Participation has also had a significant positive impact on engagement with learning and increased confidence. As a result Soft Touch has continued working on follow-up projects in the college.

The Welcome Programme was funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund and Government Office East Midlands. Within Babington we worked in partnership with the college staff and MELAS (Minority Ethnic Language and Achievement Service).

Download the case study here.