Unity in Diversity is proud to announce that the popular morning English classes for beginners have returned! The classroom doors re-opened for the first time again on the 8th of September 2022.

Classes closed at the beginning of the summer because Shawn left to chase her dreams after finishing her degree at Swansea University.

Here is the updated poster of our services at this time:

Come along to one of our meetings on Thursday, enjoy a warm meal and discussions with fellow community members.

As many of our long-term members know, Unity in Diversity runs a clothing bank in Sketty.  All items donated to the clothing bank are sorted and then delivered to members by UiD’s amazing volunteers and volunteer drivers. UiD still tries to reach out to its members either individually by asking what they need or utilises the private chat where members can express what they need or pick from options available at the moment.

However, recently UiD’s Clothing Bank has branched out! Members who attend Thursday meetings can browse through a collection of clothes, toys, and other items at The York Place Baptist Church from 4.15pm to 5.45pm by signing up at the door. Only members who signed up for an appointment are allowed to venture upstairs and browse through the selection of goods. 

This smaller Clothing Bank at The York Place Baptist Church is run by our amazing volunteers: Tolu, Shahee, Drita, Drakshan, and Katy. A big thank you goes to all the ladies for keeping up the hard work!

Staying connected with friends and family, introducing innovative ways of learning, and creating new ways of expressing yourself are just a few advantages of social media and the internet that we enjoy on daily basis.

Follow these tips to safely enjoy social media:

1. Learn about and use the privacy and security settings on social media
2. Protect your reputation on social media. Don’t forget: Once posted, always posted.
3. Be cautious about how much personal information you provide on social media. Follow the rule: Keep personal information personal.
4. Use your personal profile for only friends you know and trust. Know and manage your friends.
5. Report anything that makes you uncomfortable. Know what action to take if someone is making you uncomfortable, harassing pr threatening you.  Follow the REMOVE, BLOCK, REPORT rule.

Make sure you also protect the device you are using:

• Use a strong password.
• Use a different password for each of your social media accounts
• Set up your security answers.
• Password protect your devices.

Read more here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/guidance/social-media-how-to-use-it-safely

Come along to one of our meetings and meet the amazing Hazle.

Hazle has turned into our resident librarian. Thanks to her Unity in Diversity now has a ‘Books to Borrow’ service with books tailored to low-level learners.  It is highly motivating for foreign language learners to discover that they can read in English and that they enjoy it. For this reason, it is essential that the books are interesting to students and at a level appropriate to their reading ability. If students find the books compelling and interesting and can understand them, they may become more eager readers. Books provided by Hazle have been adapted by avoiding using difficult grammar and vocabulary for people learning a foreign language.

Since it is a borrowing service you will be asked to sign in with your details and return the book within two weeks. If you don’t finish it in two weeks, you can renew it by informing Hazle.

So, come along one Thursday to see what books are waiting for you! We have classics like Sherlock Holmes, romance novels and more just waiting for you to read.

With Heidi, UiD’s former teacher, successfully graduating from Swansea University, UiD was short on an English teacher! Fortunately, Heidi managed to find a replacement and UiD welcomed a new member, Shawn.

Shawn is a CELTA certified teacher currently teaching Entry-Level English classes on Thursday mornings. She also has experience with teaching Critical Thinking workshops in Malaysia and likes to incorporate those teaching techniques into her classes to give her students an opportunity to express their thoughts and emotions freely in English. She also likes to focus on the individual weaknesses of her students and help with overcoming them.

Shawn is also very keen on not just teaching but learning herself, and since the group of her students are from all around the world, she gets an opportunity to learn something new about different cultures every week.

Shawn became the favourite almost immediately, with her students willing to change the time of class just so they can keep her! In similar way, Shawn is very proud and happy to see the progress of her students and witness how their confidence in using English is going up. New students keep coming every week to her own surprise. She never has enough worksheets because she is never expecting that many people to show up! In her own words ‘They keep coming and never disappoint!’.

If you are interested in Entry-Level free English classes, please contact unityswansea@gmail.com or jendave.browell@gmail.com for more information.

As of 3 of February 2022 popular Entry-level (Beginner), English classes will be moved to Thursdays at 10am.

The classes will be held in York Place Baptist Church, York Street, Swansea, SA1 3LZ every Thursday at 10am starting on 3/02/2022.