About us
KLARS stands for King’s Lynn Area Resettlement Support, which is a registered charity supporting newcomers to the area, who are having difficulties arising from lack of language or unfamiliarity with the culture.
Our activities include drop-in sessions providing advice and information in other languages, an afterschool club for young children, a multilingual website, and active support for multicultural events. The staff of KLARS are always ready and happy to help people.
Afterschool Club
Started in January 2004, the afterschool club meets weekly and is for primary school children whose first language is not English. By invitation only, it provides an opportunity for children to increase their social skills, develop their English, and review their school work.
Usually, club starts with games, followed by a session of literacy or maths. After a snack of juice and fruit, there are more games before it’s time to go home. Often, children help each other, and make friends with others from different classes or of different ages.
Clients
Clients come from more than 60 different countries, though the majority are from the A8 countries of Eastern Europe. Within those countries, most of the people we see are from Lithuania or Latvia, though there are also Poles, Slovaks and Estonians. For some time, Portuguese speakers have been well established locally, opening businesses such as cafes and shops and turning to KLARS for information and advice.
Until 2004, the majority of our clients were asylum seekers. Since then, they have been migrant workers, many of whom want to stay in the UK for several years, or longer. Most of these people are young (in the 19 – 30 age range) but not all are single; they have partners, children, dependents. They are keen to find permanent jobs, decent housing, school places for their children, and English classes for themselves; above all, they want reliable, up-to-date information. Welcome packs help to satisfy this need, but people also want to discuss their situation, to be sure they have understood correctly, and for this they need someone who can speak their mother tongue.
Drop-ins
We run six weekly drop-in sessions where advice and information is normally available in English, Lithuanian, Polish, Portuguese and Russian. In King’s Lynn the sessions are on Tuesdays 10am – 1pm, Wednesdays and Thursdays 4pm – 7pm. At Wisbech, the sessions are on Mondays from 5pm – 7pm and on Fridays from 10.00am - 12.00pm. At Swaffham, the sessions are on Tuesdays from 5pm - 7pm.
At the drop-ins, we offer the following FREE services:
- “signposting” – explaining where to go for more specialist help and advice
- local information about King’s Lynn and West Norfolk
- information about ESOL classes
- help with forms (filling in, checking)
- understanding letters, bills and making appointments
- general information on applying for WRS, NIN
- information on benefits system, tax credits, maternity
- referrals for workers’ rights, employment issues
- second hand baby clothes (King’s Lynn only)
The drop-in is held at:
KING’S LYNN (Tuesdays only)
Friend’s Meeting House
38 Bridge Street
King’s Lynn
PE30 5AB
KING’S LYNN (Wednesdays and Thursdays)
Hillington Community Hall
Hillington Square
King’s Lynn
PE30 5HS
WISBECH (Mondays and Fridays)
Queen Mary Centre
Queens Road
Wisbech
PE13 2PE
SWAFFHAM (Tuesdays only)
Swaffham Town Hall
Entrance opposite OASIS Centre
Cley Street
PE37 7DQ
How to contact us:
By phone: 07916201729 or 07727957815
History
KLARS was set up in 2000 by a group of local people in Churches Together who wanted to help the asylum seekers and refugees beginning to arrive in the area. In those days, the organisation’s full name was King’s Lynn Asylum and Refugee Support, and it was staffed entirely by volunteers, who ran one drop-in session per week. After two years, KLARS became a registered charity, and obtained funding, and so was able to start employing professional staff.
With the expansion of the European Union (May 2004) the number of people turning to KLARS for support increased quickly, and an additional drop-in session was organised; this was in the evenings, to make it accessible for people who worked during the day. To ensure that clients’ inquiries were handled professionally, KLARS staff worked hard to develop and implement the policies and procedures necessary for Community Legal Services’ Quality Mark (General Help level). At the same time KLARS created a multi-lingual website for people might not be able to come to drop-ins for help.
Over the years, KLARS has developed in to meet the need. There are now six drop-ins every week, spread across King’s Lynn, Wisbech and Swaffham and staffed by multilingual Project Workers, and volunteers. KLARS workers have regularly training sessions top keep up-to-date with complex cases and changes in legislation. The afterschool club, which started in January 2004, continues to support children whose first language is not English, but it is by invitation only. Since 2005, the KLARS international Fiesta has been a regular summer occasion, providing an opportunity when people for all nationalities come together to share food, enjoy music, chat, mingle and meet old and new friends
In 2010, additional funding from the Migrant Impact Fund enabled KLARS to pioneer a new initiative, to run basic training sessions for people in their own languages, so that they would be better equipped to tackle some common situations independently, regardless of their level of English. Held on Saturday mornings, these sessions focused on situations including debt, unemployment and maternity.
KLARS is fortunate to have attracted some dedicated staff, active volunteers and the support of a diverse range of funders. Over the years, these have included the Allen Lane Foundation, the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Big Lottery Fund, the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Henry Smith Charity, the Hilden Charitable Foundation, Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales, the Migrant Impact Fund, Norfolk Community Foundation and Tudor Trust. KLARS would like to thank everyone, for making it possible for the work to continue.
Membership
KLARS is fortunate to have some very dedicated, active members. Many people support the drop-in; some come as interpreters, while others help with advice. The afterschool club needs volunteers with teacher training and/or relevant experience. New volunteers are always welcome, so if you are interested in getting involved, you can come along to the drop-in and have a chat with a project worker, or contact us.
KLARS is a registered charity, with an elected Executive Committee which meets six times a year. Membership (which is free) is subject to approval from the Executive. At the AGM (Annual General Meeting) each spring there are reports from office holders, and the new Executive Committee is elected.
Objectives and Values
KLARS’ objectives can be summarized as follows:
- the relief of refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers who are in a condition of hardship or distress
- the protection and preservation of their health
- the advancement of their education
- the increase in mutual understanding and respect between communities
