Written by Aoileann Ní Mhurchú

UoM Politics Department – Project Coordinator

The Chrysalis Family Centre Community Group, located in Moss Side supports local residents through education, welfare advice and health support. Since 2014 The University of Manchester (UoM) Politics Department has been involved in running an English language conversation project with local refugees and asylum seekers at The Chrysalis Family Centre.

Once a week UoM students and refugees and asylum seekers living in the area local to the Chrysalis Centre meet to talk, get to know each other, and speak English.

This project was started in 2014 by two Third Year University of Manchester (UoM) students studying Politics and International Relations: John Beswick and Chen Liu. John and Chen had visited The Chrysalis Family Centre while taking a Politics Department module and found out about how few opportunities some asylum seekers and refugees have to practice their English and engage socially (especially with students in the very nearby located University).

Aoileann Ní Mhurchú (Politics Department UoM) and Alex Roberts (Multilingual Manchester, UoM) subsequently coordinated this project until it had to be suspended during CoVID.

In 2022 this project expanded to involve students from all the Manchester Universities and was coordinated by Aoileann Ní Mhurchú and Josephine Biglin (University of Salford). It involved six students (Abid Choudhury, Ibou Dia, Ila Lessof, Editte Lewis, Jamie Masters (all UoM), Jodie Rhodes (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Taybia Iqbal (University of Salford).

Three quotes from the project:

Ila Lessof, University of Manchester student, involved in project 2022-2023:

My involvement in the English language conversation classes was a unique experience that made my last year in Manchester unforgettable. The community and friendships created with those who attended the classes as well as my fellow students was invaluable. I felt part of an incredible team of like-minded individuals who were dedicated and really cared about the community. This showed during my time there, as with language classes it was possible to see the real and tangible impacts of the work that we were doing. The chance to learn from each other and support each other brought so much joy and purpose. Fundamentally, being a part of the Manchester community was so rewarding.

Ibou Dia, University of Manchester student, involved in project 2022-2023:

My involvement at the Chrysalis Centre was a transformative experience, as it marked a stark reminder of the importance of community. In doing so, it added an unforgettable element to my final year in Manchester by developing relationships with people from completely different walks of life. Indeed, the impact we had on those attending the English classes was tangible, and watching the positive impact was truly special. Yet, it was our mutual learning from each other that brought true joy to my involvement, making the experience truly meaningful.

Josephine Biglin, University of Salford Psychology Dept – Coordinator of project, 2022-2023:

I found coordinating the classes very rewarding. The sessions are a collaborative space of knowledge exchange. By coordinating and teaching English we get to learn and share knowledge about culture, food and lived lives. This project importantly creates connections between the universities and the wider community. By actively engaging with the local community, students can establish relationships with people in the local community based on mutual respect and support.

Chrysalis Family Center

A conversation with Julie Asumu, Project Manager. 

How did the Chrysalis Centre start?

Julie: It was officially open the 24th September 1994. Over 30 years now! A doctor at the surgery opposite the road from us told us that they have a problem at the surgery. The problem was teenage pregnancy, which was very common. It prevented them from completing school; many of them would lose that child to the care system. They had no parenting skills, they cannot cook, they cannot clean a house. They cannot look at a baby because they themselves were looked at, were looked upon, as children. It was a big problem.

That’s how it all started. Dr. Margaret Clark, was a paediatrician. She complained that these girls would come to the clinic for an appointment, and they wouldn’t go away, because they said they have nowhere to go. They don’t want to go home. It was all over the place. When they approached us, we set up a group to meet once a week to organise the young mothers. The community was going to look at the service as part of the NHS, but we found that it was not possible. So, we decided to remain as a voluntary organisation. So, we went through so many difficulties. This road where we are now was a gang road. It was very difficult to operate here.

Was that achieved through Council support?

Julie: They gave us the house, but we made our own efforts to contact the police to stabilise the place. We opened formally on the 24th of September 1994, but the battle didn’t stop there with boys. They were now preventing people from coming. Unless you were accompanied by a police officer or a health visitor in uniform, you couldn’t come into the building, even with a baby.

We decided to teach the girls basic life lessons, how to give baby a bath a good clean, how to make simple meals. The girls became very happy, it became something like a befriending service. That is why you will find we don’t have a reception, that is too formal; what we do is a very informal service. We call it a home away from home. So, when you come in it is like you’re going into a house. You guys can be witness to that. It took us three and a half years to get rid of the gangs, but we eventually did it.

Tell us about the opportunities here

Julie: We established things like your English classes. Yours is not the first English class we’ve had. We have been known as a centre that provides parenting courses. You come here, you get help, and you tell other people. So that is how we have been carrying on. Right now, we have the food bank. Most of the people who come to the food bank are migrants, asylum seekers, refugees. And at the same time, try to empower these young mothers, or people who have no English at all. Because of shortage of manpower, government cuts, it is catching up with us. So, we are always looking for people in the community.

Tell us about the process of making this space what it is now

Julie: It is not a gang road anymore. It has changed from ‘Gooch Close’ to ‘Westerling Way’ just to wipe off that ugly experience we had with the boys. They were not violent, but they were intimidating. Police would come from time to time to handcuff some of them and they were put in the vehicle and taken away. Others would run. But they’d always come back.

The counsellor for housing then was from Moss Side. So, when we approached her to give us a place to manage this situation with these girls, she said, “Oh, we don’t have any place. Houses are meant to be lived in, not to run an organisation. So, we had to get social services involved. We got doctors and the community try to push this matter.

Eventually, they gave us this spot, this very house we are in now. The windows fell off, there was no door. It was damp and cold. We were thinking why not say you don’t have a place because this is not a place we think we can operate from? If we put a window in today, by tomorrow it was removed by the boys. The council told us that if we want to remain here, we need a 24/7 caretaker 24/7. When we got the support to fix everything, we got a caretaker.

What happened for it to go from a dangerous area and now a safe area?

Julie: I spoke to them. They were fearful of the police. I said, you are my children, I cannot turn my children over to the police. I spoke to them in the language between a mother and a child. I was very careful about what I said. Every human being deserves respect, they deserve respect. They were looking for attention in a negative way. They were grateful. Nobody has ever called them or spoken to them like this.

So, because of me, they are leaving here today, and I will not see them on the road again. They left. And believe me today, none of them showed up there again. Many of them went back to school. Many of them went to learn a trade. And they were coming here to thank me for showing them how to be responsible in a positive way. That’s how they left and then we were now free to carry on our work.

Interviewed and edited by Ibou Dia and Ila Lessof