New Routes Integration works with recently resettled families and unaccompanied young people in Norwich. New arrivals often cannot speak English, have a different culture, do not understand how systems and services work or how to access support and activities. All of these can cause fear and isolation for the individual and their family.
Joy is 9 years old, and is the youngest of 4 children. Her and her family are asylum seekers and they moved to Norwich in the midst of the pandemic less than a year ago. They were introduced to New Routes and Joy began to attend the homework club virtually to help her keep up in school.
When schools closed, New Routes contacted all families to see whether they needed support, soon realising that children like Joy and her brothers were struggling to get access to online school with just one shared computer.
New Routes identified 34 families at the time who were in a similar situation and began to look for ways to source devices and internet for these young people. Linking up with the Plug the Gap initiative, devices were provided quickly to families in need, allowing Joy and other young people to access online learning.
Joy was already struggling to keep up in class due to the language barrier, coping with the recent move, and not having yet made any friends in school. Access to a device removed one barrier and made a huge difference to the way she learns, helping her to interact with her teacher and classmates better.
