Polish and Roma Communities Advice Sessions

Free Advice Sessions at Southend Library

Libraries provide a weekly drop-in advice scheme for members of Southend's Polish and Roma communities. Sessions take place between 10am - 2.00pm in the Ground Floor Meetings Room.

For further details please see the Polish-English leaflet for this service in the related downloads section on the right-hand side of this page or contact Southend Libraries on 01702 215011.

Since June 2008, Jadzia Haughton, a Polish speaking advisor from the local community has been employed by Southend Borough Council to run an information advice service based at the Central Library.

To date, the service has helped over 1,500 Borough residents with 2,526 enquiries around electoral registration, taxation, debt companies, education and NHS appointments to name but a few.

A main focus of support has also been to assist the filling in of forms for Polish speaking members of the local community.

The library service also provides a range of Polish fiction books and dual-language English and Polish books for children. The central Library has a collection of Get On books, dictionaries and language courses for anyone wishing to improve their English skills.

Libraries also offer leaflets about personal and fire safety, police, health and emergency services, job-seeking and employment.

Using the free library internet service, residents can read online newspapers and directories such as "Informator Polski" and "The Guide to Living and Working in the UK" available from The Federation of Poles in Great Britain see (http://zpwb.org.uk/).

Another useful free website is www.myukinfo.com/ which gives current information on living and working in the UK.

Southend Libraries continue to make real efforts to respond to the information needs of the town's Polish and Roma communities. As a result we are seeing increased library membership, and use of Internet services, as well as visits to the Bookstart Storyrhymes sessions, loans of children's and adult books in Polish and use of our English Language resources.

Members of the Polish and Roma communities who come along to the advice sessions always express how lost they would be without it. People are most grateful to Southend Libraries for providing this invaluable service.