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Anyone needing cultural or language support can phone us to make an appointment. We will
then ensure that someone who understand the cultural difference, and can translate, will be available.
People coming to Powys to work, live and play, are likely to find a very different place to the one they
have come from. Certainly people from England come because the county is rich in healthy countryside activities, much less
populated than all other counties in England, and far less traffic! The pace of life is relaxed, and Powys people are welcoming.
In recent years the numbers of people coming to Powys have increased, mainly because of changes in European law which
allows people from European states to travel around Europe seeking work opportunities. This group are generally called migrant
workers, and Powys has gained many of these since 2004. We believe the current levels of migrant families in Powys total about
4.8% of the population. Our definition of 'New to Powys' (N2P) are:
'First generation and their families,
who come from anywhere outside of Powys'.
This group are entitled to the same social, health, educational, housing
and voluntary sector services as people who have always lived in Powys. However sometimes different languages or different
cultural practices prevent people N2P from accessing services, and this can have a major effect on how they settle into their
new communities. We believe that this can also cause friction between N2P and local populations, and lengthens the time it
takes for people N2P to have their problems solved.
We provide a variety of support services to people N2P, based
on our research into their experiences of life in Powys. Our aim is:
To support people new to Powys to understand
and access services that will enable them to be valuable as members of the community. At the same time to support organisations
throughout Powys who do not have linguistic or cultural experience or resources.
In practical terms people N2P are
young, ready to work and are open to the challenge of coming to a culturally different place. They are healthy and may not
be so dependent on health or voluntary sector services. Migrant workers take up many jobs that employers traditionally have
found it hard to fill, and bring money to the county.
More recently migrant families have replaced single migrant workers, and this has widened the scope of service
needs, for instance into child education. The recent recession has caused many out of work migrants, with resulting
strain on support agencies. Migrants have a right to work in the UK but not to live here. So when the work stops,
problems are compounded, especially when whole families are involved.
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