New Arrivals

A different conversation can happen when people are heard and given space. Some notice that - while every coming and going is unique - relocating, being a newcomer or wanting to welcome newcomers are also shared experiences.

In conversations near Rotherham, where people had recently arrived from parts of Africa and Eastern Europe, longer-term residents remembered how it had felt when they had first arrived in the area years earlier.

One resident, Pat* said she felt that she "stuck out like a sore thumb. I thought it was really sad to go to Mass on my own week after week. If I went to the market, they thought, ‘Who does she think she is, talking posh?’"

(* all names have been changed.)

Difference

Others described how differences were part and parcel of the identity of this place, which had been, in living memory, only fields.

Jack* said reputations of different streets and perceptions of others had shaped community life for as long as he could remember: "There was always that division there, two classes of people. At the top of the hill, you were ok: if you were down in the village, you were painted with the same brush as everybody else."

Bridging Divides

In conversation, villagers shared prejudices they themselves faced and held over the years. Many had come from Ireland: their grandparents and parents arrived and built community. They then embraced prisoners of war in the 1940s - some stayed and “married local girls."

As we wondered about all this, Pat remarked that it is difficult to know a person unless you become curious about them and have a conversation. She finally approached a man she greeted often, cycling his son to school:

I said, ‘Do you work? and he said ‘I am an asylum seeker’. Now, I said hello to that man regularly - but I had no idea.

What We Learned

We were invited to work in this place that had recently experienced new arrivals to its streets and school. Some people were worried about where this change might lead.

The stories that emerged revealed that coming to terms with how others are new or different and how we might be perceived as new or different, is a familiar experience. It takes courage to welcome - the surprises that arise can be good as well as demanding. “Surprise” was a word that emerged; it makes room for difficulty and reward.

Since WiYN? began its work in 2010, we have found that making space for conversation about change - political, local, personal - is valuable.

How do you feel about new arrivals and change? What are your memories of being a newcomer?