Our News Page keeps you up to date with the latest developments
at New Citizens Voice, information about new workshops and projects.
17 July 2013
New Citizens Voice has been awarded repeat funding from Awards for All from the Big Lottery Fund. We would like to thank Awards for All for their help and assistance. Please come back soon for dates of the next workshops for "Migrant Parents Living in Temporary Accommodation in London" or email
11 February 2013
Thank you to Nothing Hill Methodist Church for their continued support to enable NCV to deliver ‘Young Voices’ project targeting young people.
18 September 2012
New Citizens Voice are now developing citizenship projects in Peru our focus is specially in Villa el Salvador
13 February 2012
Thank you to Lord Norton of Louth for taking part and for supporting New Citizens Voice and its aims. He atttended our 'Your Voice Matters' event that we delivered in partnership with Parliament on 7 February 2012 with 55 participats.
Lord Norton said "Organisations like New Citizens Voice helps citizenship education to be alive. If citizenship education disappears, then we will end up with a massive divide between those who do understand how our political system works, and how they can contribute to it, and those who have a limited awareness and for whom the political system may be a closed book."
You can see more photos of the day and write comments on our NCV Posterous page
5 January 2012
New Citizens Voice has been awarded funding from Awards for All from the Big Lottery Fund. This is to develop a project called Workshops for Migrant Parents Living in Temporary Accommodation in London. This is another innovative project from New Citizens Voice following its mission to meet the needs of new citizens from all nationalities living in UK.
23 December 2011
We wish all our service users, staff and supporters a merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in the new year. We reopen 10 January 2012.
21 November 2011
Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP attended our 'Your Voice Matters' event that we delivered in partnership with Parliament.
This event was held in the Thatcher Room, Portcullis House, Westminster on 14 November.
We would like to thank Sir Malcolm and his outstanding and caring office staff for their precious time. Even on their tight agenda they find space to support New Citizens Voice events for young people and adults.
Friday 11 November 2011
We have now completed all 'Young Voices' workshops for 2011. Well done to the children and young people who took part and thank you to the teachers, MPs and their representatitves for their support.
The photo collage on the right shows children from North Kensington and Earls Court and most of their parents are immigrants to the UK.
The Next Young Voice events will be open from April 2012 onwards. If you would like to take part, please book online today as our events fill quickly. See workshop schedule for dates.
thursday 30 june 2010
Thank you to all participants and Parliament
staff for a very successful workshop and enjoyable day.
If you would like to take part, please book online today as our events fill quickly. See workshop schedule for dates.
New Citizens Voice will be delivering a workshop for domestic workers in Waterloo Centre on Sunday 10 April. There are 50 place available for domestic workers. We would like to thank Westway for funding the event.
Monday 1 February 2011
New Citizens Voice has been awarded a grant to continue develop and deliver the very successful Your Voice Matters workshops in Waltham Forest borough through the Faiths in Action programme administered by CDF for the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Wednesday 18 January 2011
In partership with Parliament we are expanding the 'Your Voice Matters' workshops to cover all London boroughs. The workshops are free and can be booked on 020 7751 5829
Tuesday 4 January 2011
On behalf of everyone at New Citizen's Voice we wish you a happy new year.
FRIDAY 25 june 2010
New Citizens Voice would like to thank the recent elected Mayor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for taking part in our event today. Photos are now available as a photo gallery
MONDAY 21 june 2010
New Citizens Voice will closed from 20 July, reopening on 1 September.
Maria Leyva is now expanding Your Voice Matters to Lima Peru and will work in partnership with Peruvian Government to help Peruvian people to engage and understand the political system there. She will be using her knowledge learned in the UK in Peru.
Wednesday 9 june 2010
New Citizens' Voice director, Maria Leyva, will be charing the Children, young people and families voluntary organisations forum on Wednesday 23 June 2010, 10.00am to 1.00pm at The Small Hall, Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8.
The main item of business will be a presentation by Anne Marie Currie, Director of Children's Services, Kensington & Chelsea. Anne Marie will be discussing the effects of the recession and the impact this will have on the future of children's services in the borough
Wednesday 26 May 2010
New Citizens Voice has been awarded funding from the Lottery. This is for another pioneering and innovative programme of workshops to promote civic education and Your Voice Matters workshops for 'Councillors children' project. We believe that children should be involved in politics at a early age so contributing will become a second nature in life.
april 2010
Cllr. Mark Daley recently addressed the New Citizens Voice Conference. This event was held at the Town Hall. The audience comprised of residents of Kensington & Chelsea who are not originally from the UK and English is not their first language. Some of the people attending were still learning english while others had a very good command of the language. Cllr. Daley spoke about some of the issues that he has to deal with on a regular basis from housing, health and transportation. Cllr. Daley also described the scope of what local Councillors can do and why people should not assume that their Councillors cannot help and they should seek advice as soon as they feel the need. Currently, the last resort is to contact your Councillor, in many cases in fact, it should be the first response. The main thrust of the event was to explain how locally elected Councillors can support their integration into the local community.
Wednesday 28 April 2010
New Citizens Voice has been awarded a grant to continue develop and deliver the very successful Your Voice Matters workshops in Waltham Forest borough through the Faiths in Action programme administered by CDF for the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Also, we want to thank you to all our supporters who continue this year working in partnership with New Citizens Voice developing ‘Your Voice Matters’ workshops:
Kensington and Chelsea Social Council, City Bridge Trust, Parliament, the NHS and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
We welcome NHS in Kensington and Chelsea as an official sponsor of NCV projects. We appreciate their support together with our other partners in helping us in educating new citizens at Your Voice Matters events. See Your Voice Matters page.
NCV are proud sponsors of the London Latin American Film Festival. This years event has been a very successful and we wish to congratulate the whole LLAFF team!
Wednesday 21 October 2009
We are now back from summer holidays with new dates for Your Voice Matters and Young Voices. See See schedule page for details.
Monday 6 July 2009
Maria Leyva was elected to be Children and Families Representative in May 2009 on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, with the support of representatives of social and charitable organisations working for children and young people in London. Her successful application is an affirmation of her vision, recognition of her achievements and reward for the effort she has put into developing herself and New Citizens Voice.
New Citizens Voice will break up for the summer holidays returning on 5 September. Hope you all have an enjoyable break. There is a Your Voice Matters event on 12 October for adults and the following day for children. See schedule page for details.
From September we will be delivering ESOL English for domestic workers in partnership with Clements James Centre. From 10-12 each Sunday.
We're expanding our workshops to cover Camden, Islington, Westminster, Fulham and Hammersmith from October 2009. Check back at the site for more details.
In partnership with Camden Training
Monday 22 June 2009
The Your Voice Matters at Kensington Town Hall on 15 June was a great success with 100 new citizens attending from 32 nationalities.
Next visit to Parliament: 30 June, 15 September and 14 October 2009
Monday 8 June 2009
New Citizens Voice would like to thank Parliament for their their generious support. Thank you also for the support of Barclays Bank.
Well done to the children of Park Walk and Ashburham school for taking part in workshops and the trip to Parliament. The childen said they really enjoyed themselves and wished their parents could see Parliament as well, so on the 15 June parents will be able to do just that.
Monday 18 May 2009
Your Voice Matters in June
Monday 15 June– Your Voice Matters Citizenship event held at Kensington Town Hall from 10am to 2.30pm for people who work, study or live in Kensington and Chelsea. We are inviting 100 people from 30 nationalities. It is a free event lunch and transport will be provided (including taxies for parents who are traveling with babies) to Kensington Town Hall. All participants are invited to a specially guided tour inside the houses of Parliament. For more details download the poster or visit
the Your Voice Matters page.
Tuesday 28 April 2009
Young Voices in May
Our next workshop for children from Park Walk, Chelsea will be on Friday 15 May 2009, from 10.30–12.30. Councillors and the Mayor will also be attending the event.
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Learn to improve workshop
15 people who previously attended the Your Voice Matters event are invited to speak directly to Mr Don MacBean, Head of Adult and Family Learning to help them with their education issues.
Mr Don MacBean will advise on ways that the council can help them become independent and confident through learning English and other relevant skills to increase their employment prospects and contribution to society.
NCV Forum on 30 April in Canalside House meeting room in North Kensington 10.00–13.00 (lunch provided).
Monday 20 April 2009
Upcoming Your Voice Matters workshops
15 June 2009: Kensington Town Hall with 100 places available for new citizens – details to follow shortly. 12 October 2009: Kensington Town Hall – details to follow shortly.
Monday 6 April 2009
Your Voice Matters workshop 27 March 2009
Congratulations to all those that attended the workshop.
You can
watch a video
of the day on our video page. We are planning a New Citizens Voice forum for participants to provide one to one support to try and solve their concerns from the workshop. All participants will shortly be attending Parliament.
Date: Saturday, 7th March 2009
Your Voice Matters Workshop 27th March
This workshop is for 60 adults who live, work, and study in the Kensington and Chelsea borough and is in partnership
with The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – Adult and Family Learning and The Kensington and Chelsea Partnership.
Venue: Council Chamber and Committee Rooms 3 & 4, Kensington Town Hall
Time: 10.00am – 2.30pm
We warmly invite you to apply. The workshop booking form can be downloaded on our
Workshop Schedule page.
We have workshops for young people living in Kensington and Chelsea taking place at Portcullis House (opposite Big Ben),
Westminster SW1P from
10.00am-12.00noon, on the following dates:
Friday
6th March, at 10.00AM: for ages 9-13
only.
Monday
18th May, at 10.00AM in 2 groups: ages 9-13 & 14-18.
Tuesday
16th June, at 10.00AM in 2 groups: ages 9-13 & 14-18.
Each workshop is followed by a visit to Parliament, including the chance to observe MPs in action!
We warmly invite you to apply. The workshop booking form can be downloaded on our
Workshop Schedule page.
More information about the workshop see our
Young Voices
page.
Date: Tuesday, 27th January 2009
Your Voice Matters Workshop 19th February
This workshop is for parents and children living in Kensington and Chelsea and takes place at Response Community Projects, 300 Old Brompton Road, SW5 from 4.00pm-6.00pm.
We warmly invite you to apply. The workshop booking form can be downloaded on our
Workshop Schedule page.
Our first Citizenship Tour of the Houses of Parliament has been arranged for Wednesday, February 20th at 10am.
Please
contact us
for furher details and to book your place.
Date: Tuesday, 23rd December 2008
Seasons Greetings & Happy New Year
We would like to give seasons greetings to all those many people who have attended our workshops, helped or contributed to our work, our sponsors, the organisations that have partnered with us and all who have supported our mission.
The very best wishes and good luck! for 2009. We hope to
see you all again.
Date: Saturday, 13th December 2008
Workshops Completed for 2008
New Citizens Voice has now completed all scheduled workshops for 2008.
We have a very busy year ahead with 50
Your Voice Matters
workshops planned for 2009, starting in January. Details and times will be published on
our
Workshop Schedule
page.
Our offices will be closed from December 15th until January.
Date: Friday, 28th November 2008
Citizenship Tours for December
We have confirmed times for Citizenship Tours; 60 workshop participants
are invited to join us for a tour of the Houses of Parliament on
Friday 5th December.
There will be two groups, as follows:
20 people at
10:30AM
40 people at
2:30PM
Please
contact us for furher
details and to book your place.
Many thanks to the Education Department in Parliament for helping
organise special tours for children, and providing materials for our workshops.
Date: Saturday, 25th October 2008
Latin American Film Festival
New Citizens Voice is proud to be a sponsor of the 18th Latin American Film Festival.
"One of the most vibrant film festivals in the calendar, the 18th London Latin American Film Festival will take place at the Curzon Renoir and other venues across London from 7th to 16th November 2008. For the 18th year the London Latin American Film Festival will bring together the best of contemporary London Latin
American cinema with an exciting line up of films."
On 7th November Eva Tarr, Chair of NCV, will present the Film Premiere. For more information about LAFF and this year's programme visit their website:
We are pleased to announce NCV has been awarded a second grant
from
Capital Community Foundation
to run two
Your Voice Matters
workshops, aimed at UK migrant domestic workers.
The workshops are designed to empower domestic workers and show how their life experiences make their contribution to UK society both
valuable and important.
Each workshop will be for 50 participants, the first likely some time in November (please check back here for dates and times). Follow-up
support will be provided where needed.
NCV will also organise a Citizenship Tour of Parliament for those attending the workshop.
Update!
The first workshop is to be held on
7th December 14:00 to 18:00 at
Waterloo Action Centre, 14 Bayliss Road SE1 7AA. Please
Contact Us
for more information.
Since 2003 New Citizens Voice has benefited from the support of Syracuse University London Program.
SULP have sent interns, normally students of Politics and Policy (all are from the USA), to work as volunteers
at our workshops where they meet and learn about the life of new citizens and their experiences in the UK.
We have impressive reports of these young people who, by working with NCV, were able to set clearer future goals and who changed their views on immigrants and immigration; students that were deeply moved by observing first-hand the challenges and obstacles facing new citizens when integrating into a totally new culture, citizens who nevertheless
displayed courage and commitment to succeed and make a difference in their chosen country.
Many interns realised they too had a responsibility to contribute to the world.
To read more about Syracuse University London Program, click
here.
Date: Thursday, 25th September 2008
New Workshops for Schools
We have been commissioned by the RBKC Community Learning – Targeted Support Fund to run Your Voice Matters workshops
for children in different schools in the borough.
This is a direct result of the very positive feedback from children participating in
workshops run through the summer as part of our Summer Uni4U project.
The first workshop will be run
Friday 26th September
in Partership with St Cuthbert with St Matthias School School:
This workshop for 30 children from class 6 (ages 10-12) who will comprise 20 differentnationalities.
On Monday 29th all are invited to meet their MP in Westminster, followed by a guided tour of the House of Commons and House
of Lords.
Date: Tuesday, 15th September 2008
New Award for NCV
NCV have been awarded a grant from
Notting Hill Methodist Church to provide conversational English workshops
for migrant communities.
The workshops, called
Everyday English, will be prepared and conducted by our voice coach Sarah Simmons in September
and November this year.
Participants will learn the fundamentals of English speech and
how to express themselves in English with confidence.
Check here for times and venues.
Update!
The first workshop is to be held on
1st October 09:30 to 12:30 at Canalside House, 383 Ladbroke Grove W10 5AA (NCV
Offices). Please
Contact Us
for more information.
Date: Monday, 14th September 2008
Voice Matters Workshop Schedule
We have Your Voice Matters workshops scheduled for the coming months, as follows:
Saturday, October11th Young
Voices Matter, NCV working with RBKC Children's Section celebrating Democracy Week.
35 children from diverse nationalities, whose parents are new citizens.
Venue: Mayor's Parlour, Kensington Town Hall (Mayor & Councillors attending).
Time: 10AM-2PM, including lunch.
Book a place on the workshop by clicking here
Apply for YVM 11th October.
Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP will personally welcome the children on a follow-up Tour of Parliament on 29th October.
Monday, October 13th
Your Voice Matters, Southwark Council & City Bridge Trust.
Open to everyone of voting age! 50 people inc. those who have completed the British Citizenship Test.
Venue: Council Chamber, Southwark Council, Camberwell (Mayor & Councillors attending).
Time: 10AM-2PM, including lunch.
Book a place on the workshop by clicking here
Apply for YVM 13th October.
Tuesday, December 2nd
over 60's Your Voice Matters, City Bridge Trust & Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.
50 Senior New Citizens (over 60s).
Venue: Kensington Town Hall (Mayor & Councillors attending).
Time: 10AM-2PM, including hot lunch.
Book a place on the workshop by clicking here
Appy for YVM 2nd December.
Citizenship Tours, this year we will have 3 trips on 26 September, 16 and 29 October.
We warmly invite you to apply.
Date: Monday, 8th September 2008
New Member of the NCV Team!
We are pleased to announce Deep Dhir has joined the NCV Team as a trainer. Deep, who describes himself as a "people's man",
brings extensive corporate and political experience to NCV. Welcome Deep!
Your Voice Matters Workshop 28th July to 1st August
The next
Your Voice Matters
workshop is for young people age 8-18 and takes place as a series of five 3-hour workshops from Monday 28th July to Friday 1st August, held at Pimento Supplementary
School and Kensington Town Hall.
Among the topics covered are; how the UK Government works, the role of the Queen and Prime Minister, who runs London. Participants take part in a mock election with real councillors helping their campaign, and visit the Mayor's Parlour and City Hall in a specially
organised NCV citizenship tour.
The workshop is in partnership with The Royal Borough of Kensington
and Chelsea and RBKC Summer Uni 4U.
We warmly invite you to apply. The workshop booking form can be
downloaded by clicking here
Application Form.
Date: Thursday, 8th May 2008
The City Bridge Trust Award
We are pleased to announce further support for our projects; NCV will receive funding from The City Bridge Trust for 2 years, starting
this year. This award is to allow us to develop and deliver
Your
Voice Matters
workshops for citizens over 60 from ALL boroughs
of London.
The older generation of the UK, with their many years of experience, deserve the chance to be heard. These workshops will show how senior citizens can effectively influence the political process and, with so much wisdom to share with British society, we believe their voices
matter.
Workshops are scheduled to start in July 2008, and will include
a tour of Parliament. Dates will apear here in due course.
Thank you to The City Bridge Trust for this support, for information
about The City Bridge Trust follow the link on our
Partners
page.
Date: Thursday, 1st May 2008
Western Union Supports NCV
Western Union, the global leader in money transfer services, is
now a supporter of NCV.
They have also expressed an interest in becoming active partners
with us in developing projects for new UK citizens.
Date: Monday, 14th April 2008
A Very Big Thank-you
We would like to say how much we appreciate the support and help
provided by tutors and staff of Southwark College Camberwell Centre.
Jeffrey Dickson, the teachers and students there (20 different nationalities) have given NCV valuable support and are promoting
the
Your Voice Matters
workshops in their colleges. They make a great team and we would very much like to continue working
together to develop more projects in Southwark Borough.
Date: Wednesday, 9th April 2008
Your Voice Matters Workshop 18th May, 2008
The next
Your Voice Matters
workshop will take place on 18th May,
at Waterloo Action Centre, London SE1.
The workshop is funded by The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
and is part of our new
Dynamic Citizens
initiative (announced on February 15th). This first workshop is aimed primarily at migrant domestic workers living in Kensington and Chelsea and will, for
the first time, allow NCV to provide one-to-one coaching support.
We warmly invite you to apply. The workshop booking form can be
downloaded by clicking here
Application Form.
Date: Wednesday, 9th April 2008
Citizenship Tours for Southwark Borough
We have a confirmed time for the next
Citizenship Tour
; 60 participants from Southwark Borough are invited to join us for
a tour of the Houses of Parliament on
Friday 16th May at 4:00PM.
We would like to thank Simon Hughes MP (MP for Southwark North and Bermondsey) and his support staff for all the help they have given us organising the tours. Citizenship Tours are a very important part of what we do, and we appreciate the work put in by others
in making them possible.
Date: Thursday, 21st February 2008
Further Funding for Our Projects
The Trust for London is now a supporter of New Citizens Voice.
Trust for London have awarded NCV a 3 year grant to develop our projects.
This grant is the second long-term grant NCV has been awarded in recent weeks - a direct results of the success of our workshops. NCV is now moving to an exciting new level, one where we can offer long-term support for British new citizens. This is something we have planned for from the start of our
project in 2003.
Date: Friday, 15th February 2008
Further Funding for Our Projects
We are delighted to announce we have been awarded a grant from The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Corporate Services to
develop a project called
Dynamic Citizens
in the Borough. This project will allow NCV to provide one-to-one coaching support
for new citizens.
Date: Thursday, 25th October 2007
Your Voice Matters, Southwark
Postponed to March 13th, 2008
The workshop,
Your Voice Matters,
at Southwark Council, has been postponed until March 13th, 2008.
The workshop will take place at Southwark Town Hall and the Mayor of Southwark will be in attendance.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to participants.
Date: Monday, 15th October 2007
Young Voice Matters
Postponed until 10 November 2007
The workshop for young people,
Young Voice Matters,
at Gabriel Garcia Marquez Latin American School at Joseph Lancaster
Primary School, has been postponed until 10 November, 2007.
This is due to urgent reconstruction work to the school building;
the school will be closed on 20th October.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to participants.
Date: Monday, 8th October 2007
Press Release
Migrants Get Lesson in UK Political Life
Even though Gordon Brown has decided against a snap election people from local migrant and refugee communities still want to find out
how to take part in British political life.
A Your Voice Matters workshop will take place at Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall on October 18th - during Democracy Week - to explain how to become an active British citizen. And 70 people from 30 nationalities
have signed up to take part.
Run by Kensington-based organisation New Citizens Voice, the workshop, which is supported by the local council, aims to help refugees and migrants to integrate into mainstream UK society by getting involved
in the social, cultural, and political life of the borough.
Maria Leyva, managing director of New Citizens Voice, urges participants to become active members of society. "We want to tell these new citizens: you are a fully paid-up member of the UK society, so feel
and act like one."
Participants of the "Your Voice Matters" workshop on Thursday 18th October (Kensington & Chelsea)
can book now for the follow-up tours to the Houses of Parliament, House of Lords and Big Ben.
While not an essential part of the workshop, these tours are highly recommended as a way to consolidate
what has been learned, as well as being a lot of fun!
Date: Monday, 1st October 2007
Your Voice Matters in Southwark
On Wednesday 31 October New Citizens Voice is partnering with Southwark
Council to hold a Citizenship workshop
Your Voice Matters
at 9.45 am
at Southwark Town Hall, Peckham Road, London SE5 8UB.
Information about Southwark Council is available on their website
by clicking the link below:
Date: Saturday, 29th September 2007
Young Voice Matters
We are holding a workshop for young people,
Young Voice Matters,
at Gabriel Garcia Marquez Latin American School at Joseph Lancaster
Primary School, Harper Road London SE1 6AF on 29 October, 2007.
This workshop is the culmination of a classroom-based project, NCV has been working with these young people through September and
the project finishes with this big event and mock election.
There will be 120 young people attending the workshop, which is
funded by Capital Community Foundation and the Local Network Fund.
Date: Saturday, 25th August 2007
Your Voice Matters
Due to the success of our first workshop, we are now holding a
second
Your Voice Matters
workshop at Kensington Town Hall
on October 18th. The workshop is scheduled to run from 10.00-13.00 and includes lunch.
Participants have the chance to visit the House of Lords, House of Commons and Big Ben.
Please click
here to listen to a short audio from one of our pilot radio talk
shows
New Citizens Radio
broadcast from Spectrum Radio 558AM.
Date: Monday, 9th July 2007
Young Voices Workshop
The venue for the
Young Voices Workshop
is:
Latin Education Centre
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Joseph Lancaster Primary School
Harper Road
London SE1 6AF
There will be 4 workshops starting in October, dates to be announced.
Date: Monday, 5th June 2007
Further Funding for Our Projects
We are very pleased to announce we have been awarded a grant from Capital Community Foundation and the Local Network Fund. This independent funding will enable us to expand our work, and reach out to many
more New Citizens! Please click the links below for details of our sponsors.
Date: Friday, 2nd June 2007
Young Voice Matters
New Citizens Voice is planning an innovative new project; working with children and young people aged 8-15. The project is called
"Young Voice Matters".
We are planing a series of workshops targeted at young British people from non-indigenous families (i.e. those with parents born outside the UK). The workshops will be interactive in nature; an opportunity for young people from diverse backgrounds to gain a deeper insight into their power in society, why we need to get involved with our communities, how young people can contribute, what this means, and why it is important. The emphasis at the events is to
motivate and energize, to meet new people and have fun!
Through these workshops, participants have the opportunity to experience and gain a clearer understanding of just how important their voice is in our society. The youth of today's society represent the future of our country, this exciting project will work to empower young
people to make the most of their valuable skills and opportunities.
Project Dates:
July–December 2007
Venues and times to be announced.
Date: Monday, 29th May 2007
New NCV Video Released
Please click
here
to view a short video of our latest workshop
Your Voice Matters
held in partnership with The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The film includes feedback from participants at
the end of the day.
