Peggy’s Story
Peggy, who arrived from Hong Kong with her two young children and husband in 2020, has first-hand experience of how a well-structured welcoming programme can make a difference to those building a new life in the UK.
Peggy and her family arrived in the middle of a British winter (2020). Having left behind the subtropical climate, the cold December weather was not a warm welcome and it could so easily have been worse as they struggled to work the heating in their new rented house. Thankfully, with the help and kindness of their new neighbours who came round to help them, their new home was soon warm.
Leaving Hong Kong and starting a new life in the UK has presented many challenges. All the family are having to work hard to improve their English speaking skills. Settling into new schools and finding jobs using their skills has not been easy. Peggy says:
“It is not easy from the start, everything is new, all the things you need to do even simple things like the water, electricity. It is not easy. If I can do something to help others that come from Hong Kong it is meaningful to me.”
The support and welcome the family have received from neighbours, new school friends and their church group has been so important to them as they begin to understand the ways of British culture and integrate into their new surroundings. From learning to bake cookies and sharing food with their neighbours to joining street WhatsApp groups and regularly attending activities at their church, Peggy and her family are beginning to feel at home in Reading.
Peggy was a social worker in Hong Kong and so for her, giving back and helping others in her community is a crucial part of building a new life. In the short time she has lived in the town she has already led and taken part in many volunteer activities including litter-picking events to clean up the countryside and she was asked to volunteer at a local ‘Coffee and Craft’ community project that is run on the same site as her church.
This has now led to a paid co-ordinator role for a project funded by the Government’s Welcome Programme, welcoming Hong Kongers arriving in the town under the BN(O) visa scheme. Project Manager Kathryn recognised that Peggy’s skills were exactly what was needed and at the same time taking on the work would help Peggy to continue to improve her English and build her skills in the UK so she can return to social work
Speaking from the Coffee and Craft Cafe, one the many local organisations around the UK helping to meet the needs of local Hong Kongers in the community, Peggy said: “It is important for us to integrate into the community, even though we have not forgotten people in Hong Kong. We want to contribute ourselves to the community here. Being a volunteer at the Cafe, and now coordinator, has helped me. I work with different people. I communicate with different people. It helps with my English.”
