A conversation with Freda Lambert, chair of LEAH from 1997 to 2015
What do you know about the beginnings of LEAH?
The charity was founded by Joan Summersby, wife of a Methodist minister. She moved with her husband to Kingston from Bedford where there was an English language club. Finding that there was nothing similar in Kingston she decided to start her own. In the beginning it was very much tea and sewing for ladies from the Indian sub-continent but later developed into more of an ESOL organisation.
How did you first get involved with LEAH?
In 1991, I went along to what was then called the Volunteer Bureau which put me in touch with LEAH and Kingston Hospital. They did a good job of matching me up as I’m still involved in both organisations.
What was it like in the early days?
I went on a short training course run by Jenny Arokiasamy at the North Kingston Centre. It was not nearly as comprehensive as the courses LEAH now runs but enough to give me a basic idea. I was then paired up with a young mother who was a refugee from the war in Iraq. Nowadays we have a team of co-ordinators to provide back up and advice but I was left very much to my own devices. I worked with her for about 4 years and she later went on to become a child minder.
After a year of volunteer tutoring I joined the LEAH committee and shortly afterwards took on the role of organising tutor. This involved taking referrals, visiting clients, meeting volunteers and matching them up. I went all over Kingston visiting clients. On one occasion I even interviewed a young man, who was ill, in his bedroom. Of course you didn’t think about your own safety, only now looking back on it do you realise that that probably wasn’t particularly safe. Fortunately we have safe guarding policies in place now.
(Freda then took out her little red book where she has written down all the people she’s been involved with at LEAH. We counted up over 80 people who she’s helped in one way or another during her time at LEAH).
1997 was a milestone for LEAH because it received its first funding grant from Trust for London. This enabled us to take on our first paid co-ordinator and I became Chair of the organisation.
Have there been any stressful moments?
The financing of the charity has always been unpredictable. RBK has been a great supporter with regular small grants, however it was when the Community Fund awarded us a 3 year grant of £184K in 2001 that we were able to really step up our work. However this funding ceased in 2007 and when other funding bids were unsuccessful we had to make 2 members of staff redundant. That was a real low point.
I’ve also had to do some of the least popular jobs. I remember buying new clothes for a child that had been sick on the bus on our way to Littlehampton one summer!
What have been the highlights?
Gaining our first big grant funding was hugely satisfying.
I’ve made some good friendships with the other committee members particularly Jeanette Hall, Joan McConn and Isabelle Mcgrath who have all been with the charity for a long time.
Receiving the Queens Award in 2008 was quite an experience. There was a ceremony at the Guildhall where we were presented with the award by the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Surrey in all his regalia followed by tea in the Mayor’s parlour. Then four of us (Isabelle, Joan, Sanja Kane (ex-employee of LEAH now at RAK) and myself) were all invited to go to Buckingham Palace for one of the Queen’s garden parties.
The client parties and trips are hectic (one new year we had over 120 people) but it is always good to see the students, volunteers and their families enjoying themselves and hugely satisfying.
What are the future prospects for LEAH?
It is very pleasing to see how far LEAH has come. The organisation is now run on a very professional footing and this can only continue with the calibre of the new trustees who have recently joined the board. However, with the ongoing influx of refugees from war zones around the world our work always continues to be needed. The 1 to 1 support that LEAH provides is unique and is so important in helping people who have English as a second language make the first steps towards improving their language skills.
