City Gateway is one of our community partners, and their Women’s Programmes enable local women to gain independence, access employment and integrate better in their communities by developing skills and confidence.  They run drop-in activities and courses in Stepney, offering study opportunities from ESOL to vocational courses and apprenticeships.  At the Junior League of London, we volunteer at their Literacy Lunches, which were developed to help women in the local community learn and practise their English.

One of our members shared her recent volunteer experience, which is a great glimpse into what volunteering at the Literacy Lunches is like.

‘Today I did literacy lunch at Stepney life center.  I taught basic words to 2 ladies, one of whom escaped from her country and then moved to England.  They were eager to learn more words and know how to spell them. We tried to memorize the spelling of simple words such as children – people – it’s .
I also asked them what was the first sentence you say when you enter a store in the morning – they said good morning. In the afternoon ?- good afternoon – in the evening ? Good night!  We all laughed!!

It was very rewarding.

They left the class with a big smile on their face as I tried to tell them to watch tv in English instead of Indian soap opera.’

This is just one example of the community work that we do. Interested in joining us? We accept new members in the Autumn and Spring and have 1 more information session on Tuesday 6 Feb for our Spring New Member Programme. Why not come along and see what we’re all about? Learn more here and we hope to see you there!