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At a time when Government should be building back opportunities and infrastructure, they’re cutting the Adult Skills Fund – blocking the ability of thousands of people in England to access the adult education they deserve to support them to get on in life.

The MESH spring newsletter reflects on recent developments on our key websites Learning English in Yorkshire & Humber, and Learning English Plus. It also provides news of our other activities, including our Connect & Grow project and upcoming training and networking sessions.

This Refugee Week (June 16–22), they are excited to share a powerful film programme co-curated by Counterpoints Arts and Other Cinemas, two organisations passionate about racial justice, migration, and climate. The selection includes five short films and two feature-length documentaries, all exploring this year’s theme: #communityasasuperpower. From stories of solidarity in El Salvador to the comforting smells of home, these films shine a light on the many ways communities show up for each other. Best of all? The entire programme is available to watch for free—at home or at a community screening near you. No licenses needed; it’s all sorted for you! Thanks to Curate-It, films will be hosted on a secure, global platform. Just register to access the films in time for Refugee Week and start planning your screening (popcorn optional, but recommended!).

This Migration Yorkshire guide to post-16 access to education includes information about legislation, ESFA and apprenticeships for refugees and asylum seekers.

As English continues to function as an international language, multilingualism has become the norm in language classrooms worldwide. This free online talk explores the dynamic relationship between English language teaching and multilingual contexts, with an aim to discuss both opportunities and challenges for language teachers and researchers.

The next meeting for the ESOL Research Community will be held on 24th April 2025 from 4 – 5.30pm via Teams. As always, this is free to attend and everyone is welcome.

Following on from their recent blog post on the RefugEAP Network website, entitled LINEs4Palestine: An international collaboration for ELT capacity building in times of genocide, the LINEs4Palestine team at the University of Glasgow are putting on an event to launch their new LINEs4P Multivocal Report. The event will take place on May 1st from 2:00 to 3:30pm (UK time) and will be held in a hybrid format.

Out & About at Ravensthorpe Community Centre in Kirklees