3:39pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Alex Lewis
THE 1,000-strong Polish community in St Albans is forming an association to promote its language and culture and provide mutual support.
The St Albans Polish Association's website www.stalbans-polish.co.uk, went live yesterday and it is planning a formal launch evening, complete with music and food from the homeland, next month.
Organiser Urszula Bowdler, 46, who has lived in Chiswell Green for 17 years, said: "I am sure we will soon get 200 members - probably many more in a few weeks. There are at least 1,000 Polish people in St Albans.
"Most Poles came here just after the war, so they are quite elderly.
"Then in 2004 (when Poland joined the EU), there were a lot more, including a lot of younger people."
The monthly Polish masses at St Alban and St Stephen Catholic Church in Beaconsfield Road, for years attended by little more than a handful, have soared in popularity, and are followed by thriving social events, as worshippers exchange news and gossip.
The association has been taking shape since October, under the guidance of Police Constable Tony Smith, tasked with building bridges across local ethnic groups, and Michal Siewniak of the East of England Black and Ethnic Network.
Bozena Ingram, of Salisbury Avenue, St Albans, said: "Not everybody speaks good English - a lot of people have difficulty finding out how to get things like social services. The pressures of living in a strange country can make people feel very isolated, and there can be relationship problems."
The group has already arranged Polish language classes for children at St Bernadettte's Primary School in London Colney and is planning courses for British adults who travel to Poland for leisure or business.
As the association takes shape it will organise more events for members, possibly giving advice on how to get work, access healthcare and otherwise manage life in Britain.
The association is planning to join an inter-ethnic festival in Clarence Park in September and towards the end of the year will mount a concert to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer Frederic Chopin.
Urszula said: "We are looking for a pianist and a venue. We will need quite a big venue, as I am sure we will get at least 300 people coming."
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