Gateway Church in King’s Lynn is re-launching its international café with a view to helping Ukrainian refugees learn English.
Andy Moyle from Gateway Church writes: “I had a sense last Autumn that we should relaunch our International Café this Spring. Who would have known there would be an urgent need to help people arriving in the UK to settle, make friends and practice English? God knew!
“I am grateful to God for the prompt to relaunch. Post Brexit, I wondered how much need there would be for the café, but God knew that many of us would be welcoming Ukrainians to the area fleeing the war.”
When Gateway Church began in 2007, it ran an International Café for a few years, helping migrants settle and improve their English. It welcomed people from Brazil, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Then the teacher moved away and eventually the church closed the project. Over the last six months, however a couple of people from the church have been doing a TEFL course, to equip them to lead the cafe. They have recruited a team of befrienders and volunteers to help with hospitality.
The weekly Gateway iCaf open on Tuesday April 19 at 10am at 99c High Street and is looking forward to welcoming some of the many internationals in West Norfolk, and especially Ukrainian refugees. It will be a safe and welcoming place to enjoy coffee and cake and practice English conversation. Each week will be topic based with opportunities to practice and learn English in a conversational way. Later in the year it will be starting more formal English classes too.
Eldred Willey, 31/03/2022
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