Maximise your effectiveness with the Polish community, the largest minority group in Wales!

Working with Polish families

Our course will help you explore the issues affecting the lives of Polish people living in Wales so you can recognise them and respond to them with confidence when you work with Polish people or support them in your professional roles. The course will also help you to support other nationals from Central and Eastern Europe as there are many cross-cutting themes.

Who is this course for:

Professionals working for domestic abuse agencies, children's services, health services, schools, housing associations, probation, police, and other agencies from the statutory and voluntary sectors.

What will you get out of the course:

- Learn about key cultural differences - how Polish people think, what they believe, how they behave and how systems in Poland shape their expectations and perceptions of British organisations.
- Find out what stops Polish people from accessing support and building engagement with agencies.
- What increases risks for victims and children in Polish families affected by domestic abuse
- Learn how migration affects mental health and what helps Polish people to cope.
- Explore effective ways of reaching out to Polish families and working with them.
- Find out how children learn languages and the impact of bilingualism on family dynamics.
- Learn how interpreters do their job and how you can co-operate with them to maintain high service standards.

About the facilitator

The training has been designed and is delivered by Ewa Wilcock, the Managing Director of Vesta - Specialist Family Support CIC. She founded the first UK-wide Polish domestic violence helpline in 2014. It was a shortlisted finalist for the prestigious Diversity Award in the gender category in 2017 as a recognition for the work supporting Polish women who experienced domestic abuse. She set up the first website for Polish victims of domestic violence in the UK with information about support options available to them here. She is a qualified IDVA and worked as a specialist domestic abuse worker for Cheshire Without Abuse. She is an accredited facilitator of the Gateway Programme (domestic abuse) and the Nurturing Programme (parenting). She adapted both programmes to Polish and successfully delivered them to groups and individuals.

She led the delivery of various projects specifically for Polish families across England and Wales. She supported Polish families in the UK for over ten years, promoted their rights, and raised awareness about domestic violence in Polish families living in the UK through conferences, blogs and expert advice at domestic homicide review panels and consultations. Ewa is a sociologist by profession (MA) and a qualified interpreter (DPSI).

The project is funded by the Big Lottery Community Fund.