Clarke EOU Education and Training Role of RCOs

8/12/2019 Clarke EOU Education and Training Role of RCOs

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Contents

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 1

Contents ......................................................................................................................... 2

List of Figures ................................................................................................................. 3

Executive summary ........................................................................................................ 4

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 5

2. Methodology .............................................................................................................. 7

3. Summary of Findings ................................................................................................ 11

3.1 The level of RCO involvement in education and training .................................. 11

3.2 The range of the RCOs education and training activities................................. 12

3.3 The characteristics of the RCOs active in education and training ..................... 14

3.4 The participants and their perspectives on the training ................................... 19

4. Discussion and Conclusions ..................................................................................... 25

4.1 RCOs as education and training providers ......................................................... 25

4.2 The resourcefulness of small RCOs active in education and training ................ 26

4.3 The contribution of RCOs to social cohesion and integration ........................... 27

4.4 Avenues for future research .............................................................................. 27

References ................................................................................................................... 29


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List of Figures

Fig. 1: Community identification of the sampled organisations .................................... 8Fig. 2: Description of the case study activities ............................................................. 10

Fig. 3: Range of education and training activities of the sampled organisations ........ 14

Fig. 4: Age of establishment of the sampled organisations ......................................... 15

Fig. 5: Range of education and training activities, by age of organisation .................. 16

Fig. 6: Income of sampled organisations (2010)London .......................................... 16

Fig. 7: Income of sampled organisations (2010)Leeds ............................................. 17

Fig. 8: Range of education and activities, by income level .......................................... 17

Fig. 9: No. of paid staff of the sampled organisations ................................................. 18

Fig. 10: No. of volunteers of the sampled organisations ............................................. 19Fig. 11: Country of origin of interviewed training participants ................................... 20

Fig. 12: Age range of interviewed training participants .............................................. 20

Fig. 13: Length of time in the UK of interviewed training participants ....................... 21

Fig. 14: Motivations of interviewed participants for attending training ..................... 22

Fig. 15: Reasons for choosing the specific RCO activity ............................................... 23

Fig. 16: Effects of the education and training in participants lives............................ 24


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Executive summary

Recent surveys have suggested that over half of the UKs RCOs are involved inactivities to support refugees education and training.To date there has been very

little research into this area of their work. The objectives of this study were

therefore to assess the levels of involvement in education and training of RCOs in

two contrasting cities of refugee settlement, London and Leeds; to document the

range of education and training activities conducted by RCOs; to identify the

organisational characteristics of RCOs active in education and training; and to

explore the significance of the activities, in particular from the perspectives of

individual refugee and migrant users.

A significant proportion of RCOs in both cities were found to be active in education

and training. They conducted a wide range of education and training activities, which

could be grouped into five main categories: schooling support, English language

training, transferable skills training, organisation-orientated training, and vocational

skills training. The age of establishment of organisations did not appear to affect the

nature of their involvement with education and training, and perhaps more

surprisingly, the organisations incomes also appeared to have little effect on the

range of education and training activities conducted, beyond the fact that none of

the very low-income organisations conducted accredited training.

The users of the case study education and training activities valued the specific RCO

provision for a number of reasons, and perceived that the training had led to a wide

range of positive effects in their lives, some of which were far reaching and

disproportionate to the frequently rudimentary nature of the training inputs.

Although the conclusions which can be drawn from this limited research are

tentative, the study adds to other recent evidence indicating that RCOs now have a

national presence in the education and training provision for refugees. It also

suggests that they have a unique contribution to make, both through increasing thespectrum of available education and training for refugees and by complementing

mainstream provision through tailoring training in ways that create specific added

value for their users. The study also offers insights into the resourcefulness which

enables some very small RCOs to be active in education and training. Finally the

study suggests that RCOs involved in education and training have a potentially

important contribution to make to both social cohesion and refugees integration.


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1. Introduction

The number of Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs)1

in the UK has grownrapidly over the past two decades. It has been estimated that there may be 1,000

such organisations in England alone (Refugee Council and Refugee Action 2007:28).

Recent research has also suggested that over half are involved in education and

training activities (Refugee Council and Refugee Action 2007:28), and that education

and training constitutes one of the most important areas of activity for many RCOs

across the UK (Fyfe and Findlay 2006).

However, to date, there has been little recognition and still less exploration of

this education and training role, which includes both the direct provision of

education and training and activities that indirectly support education and training,

for example liaison with parents, schools or local authorities regarding education and

training matters (cf. Refugee Council 2008a)2.

Separate strands of research in the UK have focused on various education and

training activities which are conducted by RCOs amongst others, including

supplementary schools (Issa and Williams 2009, Lytra and Martin 2010), ESOL

provision (Phillimore et al. 2007), employment-related training (Tomlinson and Egan

2002) and informal training for migrants (2009). Various aspects of the diverse

education and training role of RCOs are touched upon in this research, but it has not

been a subject of examination in itself. A small number of recent studies have also

focused more specifically on the various ways in which RCOs support school

education (Refugee Council 2008, DAngelo et al. 2011), but theydo not consider the

various other areas of education and training activity conducted by these

organisations.

The education and training role of RCOs is of significance to ongoing debates

regarding refugee and immigrant integration, and there is a need for research that

1Following Zetter and Pearl Zetter (2000: 676), these are here defined as: organisations rooted within,and supported by, the ethnic or national refugee/asylum-seeker communities they serve. Essentially,

these RCOs are established by the refugees and asylum-seekers themselves or by their pre-establishedcommunities.

2One common type of RCO education and training activity which is excluded explicitly from this study

is mother-tongue teaching. Although this has been found to have a beneficial impact on educationoutcomes (Krashen 2004), it was feared that its inclusion could distract from the central emphasis in

this study on the involvement of RCOs in mainstream education and training. Furthermore, this studyfocuses on the role of RCOs in their country of settlement, and so it does not take into account the

education and training activities conducted by some RCOs in the country of origin.


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furthers our understanding of this role. This study aimed to make a contribution to

filling this gap. Objectives of the research included:

assessing the levels of involvement in education and training of RCOs in twocontrasting cities of refugee settlement, London and Leeds;

documenting the range of education and training activities conducted byRCOs;

identifying the organisational characteristics of RCOs active in education andtraining;

and exploring the significance of the education and training activities, inparticular from the perspectives of individual refugee and migrant users.

The purpose of this summary report is to make key findings of the research

accessible to as wide an audience as possible. Further, more detailed and

theoretically-framed analyses are also being published separately as academic

papers.


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2. Methodology

This section briefly presents the methodology for the study.

The fieldwork for this study was conducted between February 2011 and September

2012, in two UK locations, London and Leeds - a city in a new dispersal region - in

order to enable a comparison of areas with large refugee communities established

over varying periods of time (following the approach of Gameledin et al. 2002,

Griffiths et al. 2005, Atfield et al. 2007). Leeds was chosen as a city within a region

which has received a large proportion of dispersed asylum seekers in the UK:

Yorkshire and Humberside received 21% of all dispersed asylum seekers in 2007

(Choksi et al. 2008).

The research design was planned taking into account the varied nature of the data

required across the different research objectives, and incorporated two separate,

though interrelated, phases of data collection.

A cross-sectional approach was adopted for phase 1 of the research, which focused

on assessing the range of education and training activities conducted by RCOs in the

UK, and the characteristics of the organisations that conduct them. A first step in this

part of the research was to conduct semi-structured interviews with representatives

of four second-tier organisations who collectively had contacts with at least 200RCOs in London and Leeds. A purposive survey sample of 25 RCOs active in

education and training was then selected, including 18 in London and seven in Leeds.

In Leeds, because of the relatively small population of RCOs, the sample comprised

all identified RCOs active in education which could be contacted and which were

willing to participate. It is estimated that the sample comprises at least 75% of the

RCOs active in education and training in Leeds and around a quarter of the entire

RCO population in the city. In London, the first criterion guiding the selection of RCOs

for the sample was to include organisations representing a range of community

identifications3. A second criterion was the willingness of organisations to beincluded in the study.

In order to reduce the risk of unintentional biases, a number of approaches were

combined in order to obtain this sample. In London, contacts identified in a survey

conducted by AET in September 2010 of 13 African community organisations based

3For two reasons, however particular emphasis was given to including RCOs serving a range of blackAfrican communities. Firstly black African RCOs represent over half of RCOs serving particular

ethnic/national groups (Refugee Council and Refugee Action 2007: 72). Secondly, Africa EducationalTrust (AET) provided practical and financial support for the inclusion of African RCOs in the research.

The limitations of this sample are noted below.


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in the city were firstly followed up, resulting in three organisations being included in

the survey (Africa Educational Trust 2010). Secondly, the research

assistants/interpreters had links with two RCOs, which were both also included in

the survey. Thirdly, the research was presented a training event in London organised

jointly by AET and the Evelyn Oldfield Unit and attended by over 20 RCOs, whichresulted in ten usable survey responses. Fourthly, an internet search identified a

number of online RCO directories and other references to specific organisations, and

following these leads a further three organisations were included. In Leeds,

consultations with representatives of three second-tier organisations working closely

with RCOs across the region resulted in seven organisations being included in the

sample, and an internet search resulted in the inclusion of one further organisation.

In total, the sample of 25 RCOs active in education and training in London and Leeds

included organisations which respectively identified themselves as Somali, Sudanese,Afghan, Hispanic, Afro-Caribbean, African, refugee and immigrant organisations (see

Fig.1).

Fig. 1: Community identification of the sampled organisations4

4Somali organisations are somewhat over-represented, though to an extent this reflects the nationalcontext in which Somali organisations are far more prolific than any other RCOs, accounting for over a

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2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Somali

Sudanese

Afghan

Hispanic

Afro/Caribbean

African

Refugee

Immigrant


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documentation to avoid the possibility of an accidental data breach. Although it

restricts the replicability of the research, the identities of all participating

organisations are kept anonymous, in order to preserve the anonymity of key

respondents and individual refugees who may be identifiable by their connection

with an RCOs activities. Given the small RCO population in Leeds, this also requiresavoiding reference to any specific community identification of the case study RCOs.

Case

Study

Description No. of users

interviewed

A London-based, in-school mentoring programme for pupils

with behavioural and/ or self-confidence problems from a

specific African community, run by an RCO in partnershipwith a state secondary school.

10

B London-based supplementary school (or homework club)provided by an RCO in order to support both primary and

secondary school pupils of a specific African community

with maths and English.

16

C Combined accredited ESOL and teaching assistant training

course provided for women from a particular African

country, run by a London-based RCO.

12

D London-based course in leadership and management for

young people from a specific African community.

10

E One-to-one English language tutoring for immigrant

women, combined with a conversation group, offered by aLeeds-based RCO which aimed to facilitate the settlement

of refugee and other immigrant women and children

10

F Leeds-based combined training course in English language

and basic IT skills for refugee women from a specific

African country.

3

G Home-based homework tuition for immigrant families in

Leeds, arranged by an RCO which aimed to facilitate the

settlement of refugee and other immigrant women andchildren.

2

H Leeds-based combined course in English language and

basic IT skills for refugee men from a specific Africancountry.

8

Fig. 2: Description of the case study activities


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3. Summary of Findings

This section is split into four parts. The first section presents an assessment of thecurrent level of involvement in education and training of RCOs in London and Leeds.

The second part discusses the range of education and training activities conducted

by the surveyed RCOs. In the third section, some of the organisational characteristics

of the RCOs involved with education and training are outlined. Finally, the fourth

section presents a brief summary of information regarding the individual users and

their perspectives on the significance of the education and training activities.

3.1 The level of RCO involvement in education and training

As set out in the introduction, recent research indicates that education and training

activities now constitute a major area of activity amongst the UKs RCOs (Refugee

Council & Refugee Action 2007, Fyfe and Findlay 2006). In order to gain an up-to-

date picture of the scale of RCO involvement in education and training in the two

cities in this study London and Leeds representatives from four second-tier

organisations were interviewed, who collectively have contact with at least 120 RCOs

in London, 100 in the wider Yorkshire region and 27 in Leeds itself. The first

organisation provided second-tier support to RCOs throughout the UK (interview

STi), the second supported refugee and migrant organisations in the greater London

region (interview STii), the third supported refugee and migrant organisations acrossYorkshire (interview STiii) and the fourth supported RCOs in Leeds itself (interview

STiv). Additionally, a representative of an NGO specialising in education and training

for refugees was interviewed (interview STv).

The London-focused respondent estimated that virtually all of the 120 London

refugee and migrant organisations with which the organisation had been in contact

over the past year were active in conducting some form of education or training

activity, thoughit may only be volunteer-run ESOL. However, fewer organisations

only a handful were running courses leading to formally recognised qualifications

and skills. Language classes and supplementary schools were strong areas of

activity, and other frequent types of training included IT classes and vocational

training such as sewing classes (interview STii).

In the wider Yorkshire and the Humber region, it was estimated that approximately

half of the regions 100 RCOs were involved in education and train ing activities of

some description, with language classes and supplementary schools again being

cited as frequent types of activities (interview STiii). In Leeds itself, it was reported

that education and training activities were being conducted by approximately one-

third of the 25 RCOs with which the respondent was in regular contact. Activities


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included supplementary schools, English language classes and IT classes (interview

STiv).

Whilst it is important to bear in mind that different sources may categorise both the

organisations and their activities in different ways, these responses indicate that

education and training now constitutes an area of activity for a significant proportion

of RCOs, not only in London, which has a long history of refugee settlement, but also

in Leeds, where large-scale refugee settlement is much more recent.

When these findings are considered in conjunction with studies which have refered

the involvement of RCOs in education activities across different cities and regions of

the UK (Refugee Council and Refugee Action 2007, Fyfe and Findlay 2006, Phillimore

et al. 2003, Phillimore et al. 2003a), there is a strong case for arguing that RCOs are

now part of the national map of education and training provision for refugees and

migrants.

In terms of their reach, RCOs are, of course, much smaller than mainstream

education and training providers such as schools and FE colleges (see Phillimore et

al. 2003, Phillimore et al. 2003a). This is not surprising, given the typically small

resource levels of RCOs, a theme explored below (section 3.3). It is indicative that

seven out of the eight case study education and training activities in this study

involved less than 30 participants.

However, the fact that RCOs now contribute to the education and training provision

of refugees and migrants across the country is a significant development in itself,

given that just two decades ago there were only a handful of RCOs active outside of

London (Rutter 1994).

3.2 The range of the RCOs education and training activities

A further aim of the study was to document the range of education and training

activities conducted by RCOs. Through the survey of 25 RCOs active in education and

training, five main categories of education and training activities emerged.

The first category comprised activities to support childrens school education. Suchactivities were conducted by 10 of the surveyed organisations, seven in London and

three in Leeds. These activities included supplementary schools (also known as after

school clubs), in which support with maths and English literacy was provided;

advising and/or liaising with schools regarding support arrangements for refugee

pupils; running in-school mentoring sessions for refugee pupils; offering training to

parents on how to support their childrens schooling; and giving annual awards to

high-achieving refugee pupils.

The second category was English language training, also conducted by 10 of thesurveyed organisations, five in London and five in Leeds. This included accredited


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Number of organisations active

Category of activity

London

organisations

Leeds

organisations

& specific activity

N(18) % N (7) %

Schooling support 7 39 3 43

Supplementary schools 5 2

Advising/liaising with schools 3 0

In school pupil mentoring 1 0

Parents training 1 0

Achievement awards 1 0

Home tutoring 0 1

English language training 5 28 5 71

ESOL classes (accredited) 4 0

English classes (non-accredited) 1 5

One-to-one tutoring 0 1

Transferable skills training 6 33 2 29

Leadership skills (accredited) 1 0

Leadership skills (non-accredited) 3 0

IT training 1 2

CV skills training 1 0

Organisation-orientated training 6 33 1 14

Advocacy/campaigning training 3 1

Fundraising training 2 0

Specialised staff/volunteer training 2 0Project management training 1 0

Vocational training 3 18 1 14

Teaching assistant training (accredited) 1 0

Tailoring classes 1 0

Fashion design classes 1 0

Music/film production training 0 1

Fig. 3: Range of education and training activities of the sampled organisations5

3.3 The characteristics of the RCOs active in education and training

A further objective of the research was to identify the characteristics of the RCOsthat conduct education and training activities, and to explore any correspondences

between their organisational characteristics and the nature of their involvement in

education and training.

Age of organisations

5NB the number of references to specific activities is greater than the total number of organisations

in each city, as organisations may conduct more than one activity within each category and be activein more than one category. Percentages (%) refer to the percentage of the total number organisations

in each city active in each category of activity.


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The age of establishment of the organisations and any correspondence between the

age and the nature of their involvement with education and training was one issue

explored. The age of the sampled organisations is presented below in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4: Age of establishment of the sampled organisations

It is interesting to note that the absence of Leeds RCOs established for longer than15 years appears to reflect the fact that the region only began to be a major centre

for refugee settlement following the introduction of the asylum seeker dispersal

policy in 2001. It is also worth noting that the fact that many organisations in both

cities are relatively new corresponds with the findings of the Refugee Council &

Refugee Action survey, in which 51% of RCOs were less than six years old and 80%

were established after 1991 (2007: 26). This pattern reflects the fact that major

increases in the number of asylum seekers coming to the UK occurred during the

1990s, but it also portrays the short lifecycle of many organisations.

In order to explore the relationship between the age of organisations and the nature

of their involvement in education and training, the range of activities of the newer

organisations (those established five years or less) was compared to that of the older

organisations (those established longer than five years) as presented in Fig. 5.

0

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2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0-5 yrs 6-10 yrs 11-15 yrs 16-20 yrs 20+ yrs

No. of London orgs

No. of Leeds orgs.


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Number of organisations in each age category

Newer organisations(5 yrsold)

Older organisations(>5 yrs old)

Type of activity N(12) % N (13) %

Schooling support 4 33 6 46

English language training 7 58 3 23

Organisation-orientedtraining 4 33 3 23

Transferable skills training 5 42 3 23

Vocational training 3 25 1 8

Fig. 5: Range of education and training activities, by age of organisation

Amongst the organisations surveyed, there appears to be little correspondence

between the age of the organisations and the type of education and training activity

conducted: the newer organisations in the study conducted a range of education and

training activities similar to the older organisations, with both newer and older

organisations being engaged across all the categories of education and training

activity. This corresponds to the findings of the Refugee Council and Refugee Action

survey, which found little variation in service delivery when assessed by the length

of time the organisations have been established (2007:29).

Income levels

The income levels of the sampled RCOs and the relationship between their income

and the nature of their involvement in education and training was also explored. The

organisations in the sample had a range of annual income levels, as shown in Figs. 6

and 7.

Fig. 6: Income of sampled organisations (2010)London

less than 100K

Unknown


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Fig. 7: Income of sampled organisations (2010)

Leeds

The fact that none of the Leeds organisations had an annual income greater than

100,000 is broadly in line with the Refugee Council & Refugee Action survey, which

found that 95% of RCOs in the highest income bracket were concentrated in London

(2007: 23), and with the findings of Choksi et al. that nearly half of RCOs in the

region have an annual income of less than 5,000 (2008).

It is notable that the organisations in the lowest income bracket conducted a range

of education and training activities comparable to higher income organisations as

shown in Fig. 8.

Number of organisations in each income category

100K Unknown

Category of activity N (8) % N(4) % N(3) % N(4) % N (6)

Schooling support 3 38 3 75 1 33 2 50 1

English language training 4 50 1 25 2 67 1 25 2

Organisation-oriented

training 2 25 1 25 0 0 2 50 2Transferable skills training 4 50 2 50 2 67 0 0 0

Vocational training 1 13 2 50 0 0 0 0 1

Fig. 8: Range of education and activities, by income level

The fact that the organisations in the lowest income bracket were active across a

similar range of education and training activities as their higher-income

counterparts, being involved in all the categories of activity, is surprising, given the

inevitable challenges posed by limited financial resources. This indicates that those

organisations which have been able to run education and training activities on small

< 10K

10 - 50 k

50 - 100k

> 100K

Unknown


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budgets have developed strategies for addressing such difficulties, a theme which is

discussed further below (4.2).

Human Resources

The sampled organisations were asked about the number of paid staff theyemployed. The responses are presented in Fig. 9.

Fig. 9: No. of paid staff of the sampled organisations

In both London and Leeds, the most common response was that no paid staff were

employed. This is in line with the findings of the Refugee Council & Refugee Action

survey, in which 50% of the organisations surveyed employed no full-time paid staff

(2007: 25). All of the organisations employing one or more full-time paid staff were

London-based, reflecting the patterns of income range noted above (Figs. 6,7) and in

line with the findings of Choksi et al., who found only three out of 73 RCOs in the

wider South Yorkshire region with a paid member of staff (2008).

Organisations with no paid staff were active across all the types of education and

training, although none conducted formally accredited courses, likely to be related

to the demands of formal accreditation, mentioned above. The organisations ability

to run a range of education and training activities with few or no paid staff appears

to be at least in part related to their reliance on volunteers. All organisations

surveyed reported using volunteers, as presented in Fig. 10.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0


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Fig. 10: No. of volunteers of the sampled organisations

As became apparent through interviews with organisation representatives, it was

not unusual for volunteers to work full-timeand at a management level.

3.4 The participants and their perspectives on the training

In order to explore the significance of the RCO training activities for their users, a

total of 71 participants of the eight case study RCO education and training activities

described above (Fig. 2) were interviewed, along with a range of other key

stakeholders, including tutors, RCO staff and school representatives.

Demographic characteristics of the participants

The interviewed education and training participants comprised were 39 females and

32 males, reflecting the fact that three of the case study activities were for women

only, whereas only one case study activity was for men only. Their countries of

origin6are presented in Fig. 11. The most frequently reported country of origin was

Somalia7

, followed by Sudan, Pakistan and Eritrea.

6

In the case of some of the school pupils who were born in the UK, this represents their parentscountry of origin.7See footnote 4, above.

0

1

2

3

4

5

67

8

9

10

1--5 6--10 11--15 >15

No of London orgs

No of Leeds orgs


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Fig. 11: Country of origin of interviewed training participants

The learners interviewed presented a range of ages, as shown in Fig. 12. The higher

numbers of respondents in the younger age categories reflects the fact that two ofthe case study initiatives were for school pupils, while a third was aimed specifically

at young people aged 16-28.

Fig. 12: Age range of interviewed training participants

The case study initiatives served a range of ages overall, but with a very limited

participation of those aged over 50, an issue touched on in the following section

(4.1)

Adult respondents only were asked about the length of time they had been in the

UK. The range of responses is displayed in Fig. 13.

0

10

2030

40

50

60

Eritrea Pakistan Somalia Sudan

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

10-19 yrs 20-29yrs 30-39 yrs 40-49 yrs 50-59 ys >60 yrs


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4. Discussion and Conclusions

This section outlines some of the implications of the findings of the study for theeducation and training provision of refugees, and for the ways in which the nature

and role of RCOs are understood more generally.

4.1 RCOs as education and training providers

This study adds to the evidence from other recent studies (Refugee Council and

Refugee Action 2007, Fyfe and Findlay 2006) indicating that a significant proportion

of RCOs across the UK are involved in education and training activities. The typically

small scale of RCO activities (cf. Refugee Council and Refugee Action 2007) means

that RCOs are likely to contribute only a small proportion of the overall education

and training provision for refugees in the UK (see also Phillimore et al. 2003, 2003a).

Nevertheless, the fact that RCOs now have a national presence in the education and

training provision for refugees is significant in itself. This was unimaginable only two

decades ago, when only a handful of RCOs could be identified outside London

(Rutter 1994).

Although small in scale, the RCO education and training activities explored within

this study made a distinct contribution to the education and training of their users in

at least two respects. Firstly, the range of activities offered increased the spectrum

of available education and training for refugees. Some activities were simply not

available through other education providers. Secondly, other activities, including

schooling support and English language training, complemented mainstream

education and training provision, often by being tailored in ways that created

specific added value for the users.

In some instances this added value was gender specific: the fact that some women

users referred to the importance of friendly staff and small class sizes, women-only

provision and the availability of crche facilities points the barriers that some

refugee women face in accessing mainstream education and training provision (cf.Patter 2009, see also Clarke under review). Both male and female users frequently

also valued the connection they shared with RCO staff and volunteers, who were

usually first or second generation refugees themselves. The feeling of familiarity

offered by the community setting, and the frequent ability of staff to speak users

native languages are qualities which would be difficult for a mainstream education

and training provider to replicate.

It should be noted, though, that there is a risk of RCO staff relying solely on their

personal experiences and contacts for insights into the needs of the community,which are heterogeneous and may change rapidly. It was notable that none of the


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RCO staff mentioned strategies for assessing needs, and procedures for gathering

and storing participant feedback often also appeared problematic. The fact that

there were very few participants aged over 50 across all of the case study activities

may be indicative of a failure of the organisations to reach out to this age group, a

concern also noted by Atfield et al. (2007). The suggestion of one training participantthat the course could be improved by advertising it more is pertinent in this context.

One organisation offered a good example of how RCOs could reach beyond their

immediate network, by advertising their activities in local cultural centres, and

conducting door-to-door recruitment across the neighbourhood.

4.2 The resourcefulness of small RCOs active in education and

training

The study also offered insights into the ability of low-income organisations in both

cities to develop strategies to overcome the significant challenges of limited fundingin order to conduct a range of education activities despite very limited budgets.

Firstly, the organisations in the lowest income bracket relied almost entirely on

volunteer staff and tutors. The inability to pay volunteers and staff, did however

frequently entail personal sacrifices and the support of other family members.

Secondly, many organisations reported that access to some form of insfrastructure

support had helped them to cope with limited resources, for example by offering

access to free advice, including on funding matters, access to shared office or activity

space, and links to potential volunteers. This assistance included both mainstream

and refugee-specific support, and took a number of forms including membership ofcollective bodies, support from dedicated infrastructure organisations and help from

larger RCOs. Thirdly, some low-income organisations coped by charging for the

services provided. One organisation charged for its supplementary school, another

for its tailoring course, and a third linked families with fee-charging tutors, in the

absence of sufficient volunteer tutors.

Despite demonstrating great resourcefulness, many organisations nevertheless felt

that their education and training work was being restricted by a lack of funding.

When asked if there were any issues or concerns that they would like to raise, nineout of the 18 of the London-based organisations and six out of the seven Leeds-

based organisations mentioned insufficient funding. It is indicative that two out of

the three case study education and training activities studied in phase 2 of the

research had ended due to a lack of funding (case studies C and F); the organisations

wanted to continue the activity but did not have the means to do so. One

respondent explicitly linked the difficult funding situation to government budget cuts

that had been introduced in 2010; these cuts continued after the bulk of the

fieldwork was conducted, with further likely consequences for RCO funding.


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study that the education and training role of RCOs has received little

acknowledgement to date even by those working closely with these organisations. It

is indicative that the initial response of one second-tier organisation representative

interviewed in this study to the question of what proportion of RCOs were involved

in education and training, was very few. Yet, when these organisations had beenlisted, they amounted to a third of the RCOs with which the second-tier organisation

worked, prompting the respondent to state:

You know, this is something we havent really thought much about. Perhaps it is an

area we should be looking more into...

It is therefore hoped that this study has made a contribution to addressing this lack

of attention, and that it will prompt further exploration of this work.


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Clarke EOU Education and Training Role of RCOs

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