The Keystone Development Trust is based in Thetford, and directly runs or supports a range of projects involving migrant workers and local people, using funding from the Home Office and the East of England Development Agency.
Community development supports self-help, reducing direct demand on public agencies. The Trust also helps to bring additional funding to the area to support a variety of projects. The local authority (Breckland District Council) is an observer on the steering board of the Trust and there are good links with the county council, police and the primary care trust.
Information and advice sessions
META (previously the Multilingual and European Thetford Association) is a support and information service run by volunteers and part-time staff, supported by the Trust. Set up to support the local Portuguese community, it now provides a service to a wide range of nationalities, although in 2005/06, 77 per cent of users were still Portuguese.
META gives advice on a wide range of issues (below). The most common are related to housing benefit, employment and housing. Those who come for help often store up more than one issue, because shift work makes it harder for them to reach the centre. Monitoring records for the first nine months of the project cover almost 500 individuals; one-third were referred on by public agencies.
Help includes filling in appropriate forms and checking on whether existing qualifications have a British recognised equivalent that can help people obtain suitable jobs. This uses a National Recognition Information Centre (NARIC) computer programme.
Know your rights at work
META organised two pilot Employment Rights courses in collaboration with the GMB Union, one for Russian and one for Polish speakers. They covered holidays, sick pay, contracts of employment, health and safety and exploitation.
Police drop-in sessions
Regular police drop-in sessions are popular, with an increase in pre-booked appointments. These have helped to build trust in the police service.
National Insurance interviews
As many people want support to apply for National Insurance numbers, the project contacted the Department of Work and Pensions to arrange interview sessions. Two drop-in sessions were organised where 86 people were interviewed.
Future plans: the migrant worker helpline
Advice for Life and Keystone Trust will soon be launching a migrant worker to migrant worker telephone advice service, as well as an action line for employers and practitioners. It is available in five languages and will run for 16 hours a week, with an out of hours answerphone, plus a website and internet discussion facility. It is funded by the East of England Development Agency.
English and Portuguese lessons and joint family events
Keystone has established good links with the Portuguese consulate, who fund additional English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) classes for local adults. Keystone collaborated with local schools and the Consulate to arrange for two Portuguese teachers to teach in Thetford Schools.
Portuguese and English lessons have started in primary and secondary schools. One hundred and thirty Portuguese and 80 English children attend these classes. Other events to bring Portuguese and English families together are held; for example, 200 parents and children attended a Christmas party evening with traditional English and Portuguese Christmas food.
Police community support officer (PCSO) training
META organise training and specialist support sessions with key public agencies. For example, they supported Norfolk Constabulary on their PCSO training day, explaining the equalities work done by the Trust and exploring the main issues that local migrant workers face.
Promoting communication
Keystone has supported the development and launch of a new Portuguese newspaper 'As Noticias', which is distributed nationally.