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August 2008
> Communication is the Key for Harvest Housing
Neighbourhood Regeneration Officers at Manchester & District Housing Association, a member of Harvest Housing Group are proving their commitment to providing an excellent level of communication with residents by learning several foreign languages.
Lorna Powell, Neighbourhood Regeneration Officer at M&D began learning British Sign Language several years ago and was then inspired to enrol on a foreign language course. In 2002 Lorna decided to learn a language that would assist her in her daily working life and commenced an Urdu course at Chorlton Park College shortly afterwards.
Two years later in 2004 Lorna gained a Language Proficiency Certificate in Urdu and has received enormous praise from the Muslim community who are both amazed and impressed at her dedication to learning the language. Earlier this year Jane Hawthorne, Neighbourhood Regeneration Officer at Grove Village, Manchester, joined Lorna in her multi-lingual mission by enrolling on an Arabic Language Course at St John’s Centre in Old Trafford.
Commenting on her achievement, Lorna Powell said:
“I work in a very diverse neighbourhood and learning new languages has opened many doors for me. I have received enormous support from the whole community. Urdu is proving a difficult language to learn but I am determined to stick with it to enable me to continue opening up the lines of communication for our residents whilst they take on the equally difficult challenge of learning English”.
Both Lorna and Jane hope to improve their foreign language knowledge over the coming months by completing the Arabic course and obtaining language CDs to further enhance their skills.