Learn English at Home (LEAH), based in South West London, supports refugees, people seeking asylum, people who have been trafficked, and migrants who have English language needs in developing essential communication skills. This enables greater independence in areas such as health, education, and employment. The organisation focuses on individuals who face significant barriers to accessing traditional college or community learning opportunities due to additional social needs, physical or mental health challenges, caregiving responsibilities, low levels of confidence or illiteracy in their native language.
LEAH adopts a holistic approach, tailoring its services to meet learners where they are. Assessments focus on their English language confidence and support needs, with lessons often delivered in learners’ homes. In 2023-2024, LEAH supported over 400 learners across London through personalised one-to-one tuition and group classes, offered both in-person and online. These services were delivered by a diverse network of trained, DBS-checked volunteers. Over a quarter of these volunteers speak a language other than English as their primary language, 23% are employed, and nearly half have no formal teaching background.
Volunteers begin their journey with an application process designed to understand their interests and experience whilst also introducing the complexities of working with LEAH’s learners. They then participate in a six-week online training course, which includes sessions led by an ESOL tutor covering speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Attendees frequently praise the training, describing it as highly valuable, confidence-boosting, and some of the best preparation they have received as volunteers.
Before starting their teaching, volunteers complete online safeguarding and diversity and inclusion training. There is also the option to participate in mental health awareness training. Ongoing support is provided by experienced ESOL coordinators, beginning with their first learner pairing, followed by a six-month review and continuous support throughout the year.
LEAH also offers 8-10 additional training sessions annually on topics such as trauma-informed learning, using AI tools for teaching, and online tutoring via smartphones. These sessions are supported by a volunteer training budget and the in-house expertise of the LEAH team. Volunteers bring a wealth of expertise and actively contribute to regular online gatherings, with some creating and sharing materials, such as resources for teaching emotional language through art.
To further support volunteers, LEAH developed an extranet where vetted learning resources are accessible. Funding from Trust for London and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames enabled LEAH to create materials that volunteers can use. These are shared to upskill the wider community. A pilot programme was recently launched by LEAH offering external organisations opportunities to benefit from their existing training offer.
Training volunteers effectively is crucial but challenging, especially in resource-strapped sectors like charity and education. Here are LEAH’s three key tips to enhance your training programmes:
- Listen to volunteers: regularly seek feedback through surveys or meetups and adapt your training to their needs.
- Set a training budget: allocate funds for both initial training and ongoing development workshops.
- Collaborate and share: use the expertise of staff, volunteers, and partner organisations for in-kind training. Share your training resources with others to strengthen the sector as a whole.
