Poles who home in on Yorkshire

8:52am Wednesday 21st March 2007

IT WAS an easy decision for Bogdan Bednarczyk to move to England.

Much as he loved his small town in the North West of Poland, there were no jobs, no prospects and no money; or not compared with England, anyway.

"I came here because it is quite difficult for young people to get a job in the place I come from in Poland," said Bogdan, 25.

"Everyone wants to have a family and get a house, but it's very difficult. I got the idea to come to a different country where living is easier. It took me four days to pack up myself and get here."

Since then, Bogdan has saved enough money from his job in a factory to invest and start two Polish food shops.

He is happy, he says, but misses Poland. When he can afford to, he will return home.

Bogdan is one of the thousands of Poles who have made the journey to the UK since Poland joined the EU in 2003. Many work in factories, says Bogdan, to ease themselves into the culture and improve their language.

But that is not always the case. There are now doctors, dentists, builders, receptionists, waitresses here, all keen to give English life a chance.

Teacher Lukasz Druzic decided to stay after a two-and-a-half week holiday.

"It's very hard to get a job in Poland," he said. "Not just a proper job but simple jobs too."

Because of the lack of employment, most Poles try to educate themselves as best they can and around 80 per cent study up to A-Level standard, he estimates.

The possibility of being called on to join the army persuades many to study too.

Lukasz invited me to meet some of his Polish friends, Marek Lichtarowicz, his wife Dabrowka and her sister, Ola.

Each had different reasons for living in York, but all are contributing to the community.

Marek, 36, was born and raised in England. He is now chairman of Poles In York, a community group to help Poles settle.

There is nothing unusual in the Polish influx, he says, and generally, it is working well.

"Essentially what we're seeing is migration that would have naturally happened if it hadn't have been for the Cold War and the Iron Curtain," he said. "If Poland had been part of Europe, it would have happened earlier; now we're catching up.

"Because it's so sudden, it seems severe."

Relations between the English and Polish have not always been easy, admits Bogdan, but they are improving all the time.

"Now they realise we're just part of society," he said. "We're part of life. We're buying and selling, we are the same as them and work and pay taxes. We're normal people it's just we speak a different language."

• Poles In York organises picnics, walks, visits to the pub or a big "Polish Party". If you would like to contact them, email dabrowka_i_marek@polacywyorku.org.uk

Polish fact file

IT is difficult to pin down the number of Polish people now living in York and North Yorkshire, because most have arrived since the last census was held in 2001.

Bogdan Bednarczyk, who runs Polish shops in York and Selby, estimates that there could be as many as 1,500 Poles in the Selby area, double that in York and as many as 6,000 in North Yorkshire as a whole.

Churches
English Martyrs Roman Catholic Church in Dalton Terrace, York, has started a weekly mass in Polish, on Sunday afternoon at 1.30pm.

St Leonard & St Mary's RC Church, in Malton, also recently began holding regular Masses in Polish on the first and third Saturdays of each month.

Shops
POLISH shops have opened in New Street, Selby, and in Walmgate, York, selling a range of Polish foods.

A number of other local shops in York are also beginning to stock Polish foodstuffs. They include Costcutter in Bishopthorpe Road, which sells Polish pickles, jams and juices as well as Polish beer and vodka, and Heslington Road News, which stocks Polish sausages, fish, pickles, seasonings, sweets and chocolate, and Polish sourdough bread.

Employment and training
FUTURE Prospects, the York-based employment training and advice centre, has appointed a Polish woman, Anna Druzic, as a learning and work adviser. Most of her clients are Polish people looking for help in finding work, or who want to find somewhere to study English.

Many are quite highly qualified in their own country, Anna says - teachers, nurses, administrators and graduates.

York College last year ran six business seminars funded by the York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce's Women in Enterprise scheme, which were attended mainly by Polish women.

Between October and January this year, the college also ran ten workshops as part of a business programme. Again, a significant number of Polish women attended.

English for Polish speakers
THERE is a shortage of English courses that Polish people coming to this country can afford, says Anna Druzic at Future Prospects.

The English Language Centre in New Street, York, does however offer free English courses in the evening, which are taught by trainee teachers. The courses are often full, but to find out more, call 01904 672243.

Both York College and Selby College offer part-time courses in English for Speakers of Other Languages, both of which are attended by a high proportion of Polish speakers.

Polish for English speakers
THERE are so many Polish people working in Selby that Selby College has now started running courses in Polish for English speakers. There are 94 Polish people enrolled on courses at the college: almost one in ten of the student body. There are signs around the college written in Polish showing the way to the refectory and instructing Polish people not to smoke.

Schools
City of York Council has no data on the numbers of Polish people in York schools; North Yorkshire County Council says every school in Selby has at least one Polish pupil, and some far more.

Libraries
NORTH Yorkshire County Council has acquired a collection of 100 books in Polish, which are available from libraries in Selby, Scarborough and Ripon.

Case study... Lukasz Druzic

LUKASZ Druzic only meant to stay in England for two-and-a-half weeks.

"It was a holiday for my wife and I," he says. "But our financial situation changed and we decided to stay a bit longer."

Lukasz, 26, had trained as a PE teacher in Poland. He found work as a kitchen porter while he applied for qualified teacher status (QTS) in England.

He later moved to the Churchill Hotel, in Bootham, where his English quickly improved.

Now, he is a teaching assistant and supply teacher and has bought a house in Acomb.

There are plenty of jobs in England, he says, but also many barriers.

"Bureaucracy is everywhere; it's taken more than a year-and-a-half to get my QTS," he said.

"I value that time as a kitchen porter because it gave a different prospective on everything. It was humbling. I was a bit ambitious and may have been a little bit arrogant and that has changed.

"However, quite a lot of Poles still have some kind of frustration because they are qualified in some subjects and would like to work as a professional but there is the barrier of the English language."

Lukasz feels working hard is part of the Polish culture.

"I don't know many lazy Polish people," he said. "At the Churchill I was treated with respect because I worked hard and they saw that."

Case study... Bogdan Bednarczyk

MOVING to England has not only given Bogdan Bednarczyk the chance for a better life, it has helped him to save for his future.

Bogdan left Poland after his first year at university with dreams of a better life.

He started in Southampton, more than four years ago, but couldn't find a proper job. He didn't enjoy London, he says, and found Scotland too cold.

He now lives in Selby, works at Greencore as an on-site training co-ordinator and owns Polish food shops in Selby and York.

"I saw a gap in the market and filled it with a Polish shop," he said. "It's not a business of the greatest success, but it's improving with time."

He plans to earn, save and invest before returning to settle down in Poland.

"My first idea when I came to England was to stay here for ten years and save money to go back home and invest money in the market," he said.

"But you can't spend all the time saving. You have to live as well. Now I'm giving myself more time. I have made some investments in Poland and here, and when I save enough, then I hope to go back home."

Case study... Dabrowka Lichtaroqicz

DABROWKA Lichtaroqicz moved to England four years ago to marry husband Marek.

Initially, Dabrowka, 30, was happy to be a housewife, but soon sought employment to improve her English.

Although she has a degree in pre-school education, she found work in a residential home for the elderly. "It was a shock because they had girls working there - you can't say women, they were about 16," she said. "I found that very different to Poland."

She was happy when more Poles arrived, but changed her mind when she heard unpleasant conversations on the street.

"Sometimes it's nice to hear Polish in the street but sometimes, when you hear people swear in Polish, it's not so nice. All kinds of Polish society are arriving now," she says.

Now she feels more settled, and recently became a mother to her son, Mieszko.

She hopes to use her experiences of the health system to help other pregnant women, who may not speak good English.

"A lot of people come here and don't feel confident," she adds.

One day, the family might move to Poland, she says.

"But we will see. I am happy here."

Case study... Ola Szafran

THIS is Ola Szafran's eighth visit to England.

This time, she plans to work for three months while staying with her sister Dabrowka and brother-in-law Marek.

Ola, 26, has a degree in child education and psychology, but her last English job was as a waitress in a small bed and breakfast. She enjoyed it, and felt appreciated.

"I had respect because I was working hard," she said. "Many people who come here do work hard because they are happy, although there are some who come here to have benefits and don't want to work."

Getting a job in Poland is hard too, she explains, because she does not have much work experience there.

Now, she is trying to persuade her Polish fiancé to come to England.

"English people are generally welcoming," she said. "Once when I was in England I was talking to a guy and when I told him I was from Poland, he laughed in my face and went away. It was a problem with him, but generally English people are very friendly."

Many Poles come to England to save money to settle down in Poland or send money home, she says.

She is saving up too, and enjoys many aspects of life in England.

"I love the weather and I like the Yorkshire Dales," she said. "When it's raining and windy it's my weather and I love going for walks in the English countryside - it's so beautiful."