This was our second task especially planned for the team at Slough Refugee Support. A while back I did some work with the English class wearing another hat and one issue they highlighted was that they wanted to volunteer in the community but didn't know how to.

Its good to talk

The class members just needed a lead, a link, a way in to make this happen for them.

So I thought the perfect way to combine intergrating into the community as well as practising conversational English was to do a special GoodGym task just for this class.

Last month we went to Salt Hill Park and did a litter pick there. And today we went to The Jubilee River for another environmental litter pick.

Noreen the class teacher had given them key words to find and with an even split of the class members and GoodGymers off we went to talk, walk and find our key word items! With 17 of us in total we were bound to collect a few bagfuls!

I'm so pleased that after last months session Mehdi, Mohammad and Ehsan all decided to come along to our Monday evening group sessions too! They have now been on 5 sessions with us!

I am very happy to meet this group and I will be even happier to be able to help people improve their condition and thank you for your good management, Mrs. Manjit.

This was a lovely email Mohammad sent me last week and it really warms my heart that we as a group are able to welcome these guys with such open arms and that they feel so part of the team.

We hope more class members will join us on other sessions soon. This is how communities are formed and how we make Slough a better place.

This session came about after I had spent some time on another project with the English class participants from Slough Refugee Support. In those sessions I learnt some valuable lessons on the plight of those seeking asylum, aiming to obtain their citizenship and those who generally just wanted to learn English to support them with finding a job.

One area they wanted to get more involved in was volunteering. As the group leader for GoodGym Slough I knew immediately that this was something I could actually help them with.

So today's session was set up as a means of connecting communities, introducing volunteering, getting outdoors to support mental health and to practise conversational English with new people that the class had not met before....the GG volunteers.

With Helen, Pam and Nicola (who came all the way from Reading today to support this task) and Rosanne from Slough CVS, we had 5 of us in total to break off into smaller groups with the 9 attendees from the English class.

Noreen, the class teacher had set them with the remit of asking the 5 W;s and the H:-

• Who;

• What;

• Why;

• When;

• Where;

• plus the How

They were asked to use these in conversations with the GoodGym volunteers.

Although some were very shy at first, they did all really enjoy the task of walking, talking and litter picking. I had explained what we were doing, why we were doing it, where we were doing it and how we were doing it! Then we partnered off into smaller groups and went off in different directions.

In total we collected 8 bags of rubbish whilst chatting away about life, about their journey to the UK, how life was treating them and the challenges they faced. It was a humbling task. Mr E said he was very happy to be able to wear shorts in hot weather as in his home country, shorts were not permitted. Mrs M talked about when she arrived in the UK many years ago and the challenges she had faced and still faces.

What's so lovely about this group was that despite all that life has thrown at them and the challenges they face, they all have smiles on their faces.

At the end, we were treated by Rosanne with some healthy treats. I took the opportunity to let the group know how they could get involved in more GoodGym sessions - we really hope they come along to more sessions.