Problem addressed

In the past several years, small communities like those in Leitrim, have witnessed a large increase in the number of Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection, International Protection Applicants, Refugees, and migrant communities more generally.  Oftentimes, these new arrivals have poor levels of English and poor levels of integration with the local community - and limited opportunities to address either of these issues. Whereas formal classes are an option to improve language skills, this does not give new arrivals the opportunity to meet people in the local community, or is not suited to those for which formal education may be difficult or intimidating.   

Innovative solution

We devised a boardgame that allows people to improve their English language skills in a fun and social way.  The game serves as a focal point around which people from new communities and local people can learn English, start a conversation, and enjoy socializing with each other.  It helps to break down language and social barriers for people of all ages and abilities 

Key results and benefits

Improving English language skills
Improving socialisation and integration of new communties.
Breaking down social and language barriers to bring people from different communities together. 

Potential for mainstreaming

At the moment the project is in its pilot phase where we created 50 copies of the game to distribute to local volunteer groups, schools and projects who work with new communties.  The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and there is massive demand from groups, schools and programmes nationally.  Our goal now is to scale up the project to meet local and national demand, and possible international demand in the future. The game is eminently adaptable to different languages and contexts, and could be used and adapted by groups, schools and projects all over Europe where new communities are coming into contact with local ones, and the need for language improvement and integration is high.  Whereas our initial goal was the game to be used by new communities we have had feedback that the game could be used to address literacy issues with native speakers in various educational contexts.  We have also received feedback that the game could be used to help people with cognitive and memory issues.