London Friendship Centre Continues during COVID-19
The Friendship Centre was established in December 2018 under the auspices of the Latter-day Saint Charities. It is in the building used by Peckham and Kennington wards in Walworth, London.
The main aim of the centre was to support asylum seekers, refugees and migrants by providing them with a space for socialising and making friends and learning English at the same time.
Elder and Sister Miller started as directors of the centre in November 2019 after the departure of the previous directors, Dale and Mary-Jo Christensen. Their roles involved, among other things, assigning students to English classes, setting the schedule of the classes, and recruiting and training teachers.
The Friendship Centre had been a great success, with approximately 70 people visiting each day. However, it was closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of lockdown. Elder and Sister Miller returned home to the USA.
On the closure of the centre they stated: “When we were sent back to the USA because of the COVID-19 crisis we were concerned about the learners who came into our Friendship Centre. Would they lose their jobs? Did they have somewhere to self-isolate? What would they do with their time? Would they have the food and supplies they needed? We decided the best way to help them was to continue our English classes, but to do so virtually—online. That would give us the opportunity to contact them and at least help them use their time to continue to learn English while in lockdown. We had no idea that the organisational challenge would be so great, but it has been worth the effort. It is difficult enough to communicate with people in person who speak another language, but to do it by text proved in many cases to be almost impossible. However, after some effort, we divided the learners who were interested into beginning and intermediate programmes and then into smaller study groups.”
The English Connect 1 and 2 (beginners and intermediate) programmes continued to be used to teach students. Some missionaries also took on the role of recording the lessons and posting them online for students to watch in advance of practice conversations with their respective tutors over Zoom or WhatsApp.
Elder and Sister Miller stated, “The missionaries who agreed to serve online with us have been excellent in getting engaged and figuring out what they needed to do to be successful. It was a challenge to get the students to understand and respond to their assigned tutors, but the missionaries did not give up. They are now successfully interacting with four or five students each. Christine Gritton, one of our most faithful teachers in the centre before it was closed, and Ashleigh Wright-Mitchell, both members of Wandsworth Stake, graciously agreed to tutor groups from their homes in London.”
Over time, more volunteer tutors have been recruited and presently there are 23, including seven pairs of missionaries, teaching approximately 75 students in small groups.
When lockdown was announced, some students returned to their homes abroad, for example, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain. But the inspiration to use online technology to offer English lessons has blessed many.
Ashleigh is currently a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho but returned home to London at the start of the pandemic. She discovered that additional volunteers were being sought and offered her services, despite the pressure of university assignments. She uses WhatsApp to hold weekly group conversations and said she enjoys doing them, especially as the individuals in her group really want to learn. Ashleigh said, “It’s sweet to see how dedicated they are. I feel this has been a good use of my time. It makes me happy to see that they are learning, and it also makes them happy. It’s been a really pleasant experience.”
The benefits of the English classes at the Friendship Centre are evident from the examples above. As the majority of the country’s residents were forced into isolation, an avenue through which English lessons could continue was created and has proved to be a wonderful success for the students involved.
The establishment of the Friendship Centre has proved a great community resource, particularly for those who have attended the English classes. During this challenging period, many students have continued to be taught by dedicated volunteer tutors. Although it has not been possible to include all their stories, their commitment to supporting the students to learn English is beyond measure. While we are grateful for the technology that has made this all possible, we look forward to the day when the centre can be fully reopened, and fellowshipping can start again, and friendships be re-established.