GET SET! Enterprise training.

We will soon be launching a new course of enterprise training which will include sewing, IT and business start-up, funded through two grants we've been awarded.

If you have skills in any of these areas or run your own business (e.g. plumber, gardener or graphic designer) and you would like to become a mentor, we would love to hear from you. 

We are excited to have a permanent base for our sewing project at the new St Chads Trust base on St Chads Road.

 Family English Course

In November we will be starting a new English course for families to learn together in a fun and interactive environment.

Our Food Shared Food

Earlier in the year, Upbeat Communities published a book with delicious recipes from other cultures. We enjoyed many of these at World Food Night and celebrated the launch of the book as part of Refugee Week. 

We hope to develop the book further so if you like world food or cooking come and get involved!

If you would like to receive a regular update or help with any of our projects, please get in touch: louise@upbeatcommunities.org.

New and improved English Courses

It's been an exciting journey for Upbeat Communities regarding ESOL provision.

Over the first couple of years we were providing English classes for free to those who had just arrived in Derby and were unable to pay for their lessons. It was great to see people becoming more confident in using the English language and beginning to integrate in the community by forming friendships with each other as well as the teachers and volunteers. 


As we were awarded funding in the beginning of this year to deliver English classes we were able to write our own curriculum. The 6-week course is designed for those who have just arrived in England so besides teaching the basic English we wanted them to get to know Derby and learn about topics such as Schools and Doctors, Shopping, Banks and Money, Housing, Bills and Contracts, Waste etc. Our aim is to do it in a fun and visual way, for instance teaching about waste and the vocabulary around that we bring in the bins and let them sort out the waste.

At the end of July we completed the first two courses and the feedback was encouraging. People found the curriculum very interesting, they enjoyed learning about British culture and they especially liked watching clips of Mr Bean! We are currently in the middle of our third course and it's going really well. In the beginning of September we are starting our 4th and 5th courses and they are already fully booked!

It's rewarding to see the learners getting sad when the course has ended or when they present the teachers some flowers to thank them for all they had done for them. Over the time we have had some great volunteers assisting the teachers and some of them have been faithfully helping for a couple of years. Upbeat Communities couldn't exist without the help of volunteers, so if you would like to get involved with the ESOL classes and meet some amazing people, please contact us!

Heili Tõnissaar

ESOL Co-ordinator

It’s been an exciting season for Upbeat Communities!

Along with three other organisations we were awarded funding to help New Communities settle in and begin to integrate into life in Derby. The partnership is called NC Fusion and the funding has enabled us to employ 4 part time staff including project co-ordinators and a specialist family support worker.

This new partnership has given us an outreach base in Normanton in addition to our main office base with CCD in Pride Park. It’s great to be working together with others to achieve our aims. The base will incorporate a charity shop, office base and support services for New Communities.

We have provided placements for a number of University of Derby Students this year on our SEW 2 Work project and with Refugee Week.

We had fun at Refugee Week in June, our Beyond Borders festival in the Market showcased music, dance and culture from many of Derby's new communities. The week also launched our new book “Our food, Shared Food” filled with recipes and reflections from Derby’s new communities (see previous post).

Keep your eyes on the Blog, website and our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with all of Upbeat Communities activities. Your support and interest is very much appreciated.

Thanks for reading our Update!

Karina Martin

Project Director

Cooking up a recipe for change

The Our Food Shared Food Book was launched on Tuesday 19th June at the Quad. We were proud to celebrate the launch of this book with Upbeat Communities supporters and contributors to the book. Here are some of the dishes included in the book. If you would like to purchase one, please get in touch.

Book's tasty dishes from around the world show what refugees can bring to table - Daily Telegraph