CLEAR

City Life Education and Action for Refugees (CLEAR) has been a project of City Life Church since 2001 when Southampton became a dispersal city for asylum seekers and refugees. For more than 20 years, CLEAR has supported people through the asylum-seeking process and helped them rebuild their lives and integrate into the UK.

CLEAR sought funding from the Prime Foundation for an interactive smartboard to better incorporate digital literacy and the use of ICT into their learning. Working with asylum seekers and refugees who already face many barriers to learning and integration, being able to demonstrate usage and enable engagement with digital technology on a broader level is essential not only in aiding in the delivery of lessons and language learning, but also helps students develop digital skills that are essential for integrating in the UK.

Through the development of the new multi-storey car park and ride at Adanac Health & Innovation Campus in Southampton, developed in partnership with University Hospital Southampton, the Prime Foundation were able to fund this project. The smartboard is now used five days a week to teach English as a second language (ESOL), from pre-entry level to entry level 3 over 11 classes and impacts over 130 students each week.

“Thanks to funding from the Prime Foundation we have been able to make a step change in the delivery of our ESOL programme through the purchase of an interactive smartboard. Both students and teachers have benefited, and we continue to explore the possibilities and options that the technology will provide. ”

Pete White Project Manager