It
looked fantastic – well done, Alice!
Judith
From:
ESOL-Research discussion forum and message board
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alice
Robson
Sent: 15 March 2011 21:12
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject:
Report back from Hackney Action for ESOL's Save ESOL
Day
As I joined
colleagues and a few of our ESOL students in London Fields on Sunday
morning in the drizzle and attempted to assemble a gazebo with
sellotape, I don't think I was the only one questioning whether or not
organising Save ESOL Day in a park in March was a good idea.
But
as the afternoon arrived, the rain was in abeyance, and people
started arriving. Our students arrived with their families, friends and loads
of food, and ESOL students and teachers from other institutions in
Hackney came too. The turnout was amazing - there must have been 300
people there throughout the day, the vast majority female ESOL students and
their children. There was a feeling of celebration, with balloons, face
painting, story telling, and of course food, but also a clear sense of
why we were there as students made banners and musical instruments to take on
the march, practised their chants, had their testimonies recorded on
camera, signed the Action for ESOL petition and wrote messages on their
balloons about the importance of ESOL.
The march to the town hall
was incredible - I received an email afterwards from a friend who said
that she had 'never seen before such a diverse colourful joyful but
angry march against the cuts' and I think that just about sums it up. When we
arrived at the town hall, we heard from four students about their
views on the funding changes: they eloquently and powerfully spoke about
the impact the cuts would have.
All in all a fantastic
day, which only underlined how much will be lost if these changes go
ahead.
For those on Facebook, there are pictures on our 'Hackney
Action for ESOL - Save ESOL Day' page. We managed to get a (short)
article in the Evening Standard on Friday (no web link that I can find
unfortunately). The day was covered extensively in the Hackney Post - http://hackneypost.co.uk
- there's a video of the march and the comment piece is
also about ESOL cuts. We hope there will be a piece in this week's
Hackney Gazette too.
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