Council and democracy

Hatfield Station Commander wins top diversity award

A project in Hatfield set up by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to support Polish people in the area has won top prize in the East of England regional council equalities awards.

Peter Hill, who was Hatfield Station Commander when he set up the project, felt there was little support for Polish people coming to the county and wanted to do something to address this.

Polish people make up eight per cent of the population in Hatfield, a number that continues to grow, but many of them did not know what support was available to them in terms of getting housing, access to education or what their rights were.

Peter met with Valdis Belinis and Michal Siewniak, a Community Support Officer and a Polish immigrant at a community meeting and found out that they needed somewhere to host meetings. Following this meeting, a Migrant Workers forum and the Welwyn Hatfield Polish forum were set up by Peter Hill and Michal. Peter invited the Polish Community to use part of Hatfield Fire Station for their meetings every fortnight, and the project developed from there.

The Polish forum drop in session takes place every other Thursday at the fire station in Hatfield and has proved to be very popular. It provides an opportunity for people to meet locally and access useful information relating to their home and work lives.

During the sessions, people receive advice on the provision of housing – these talks led to an agreement being formed with local estate agents to ensure that Polish residents get a fair deal. They also receive advice from health and education professionals and other speakers of interest.

The project has developed from the initial meetings at the station, and English as a foreign language classes are now held there also. Support from a local Adult Care Services Day Centre was developed to support learning. The English courses have been running weekly for three months and are enabling many Polish people to learn the English language. So far, 40 people have taken and passed the English for Speakers of another language – English exam.

Peter Hill attended a ceremony at Cambourne on Thursday to collect his award. He also gave a presentation to the audience on the project and what has been achieved through his work.

Peter said: “I am over the moon to have been recognised for a project which I’ve put my heart and soul in to. When I found out how little information was available to Polish people in the town I was determined to do something about it.

“Now, thanks to this project, many more opportunities have been opened up to the Polish community who make up a large proportion of our town. I am honoured to receive this award on behalf of Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.”

Keith Emsall, Executive Member for Community Safety and Culture said: “The Fire Service is about so much more than putting out fires. It’s about making people safe and giving people a better quality of life – through this project Peter Hill has done exactly that and I congratulate him for all his hard work and look forward to seeing this project continue to go from strength to strength.”