Poles working in Manchester, England - request for facts

Hello... I need some facts here not just opinions:) can anyone help me with some acurate facts. Im English my only connection with poland is I once had a family member, a very close friend to me who was Polish. He married into my family and moved to England worked incredibly hard to bring up a young family. I visited his home town in Poland, Morogovo? (sorry I forget how to spell it) Was given a wonderful welcome and I also spent some time in Wasaw which was also very interesting. Since that time obviously I have noticed a huge influx of polish people into Manchester working in many retail and service jobs. Every Polish person who has served me has always been very polite and generally professional.

However I constantly hear many English people saying "Poles have all the Jobs!!" and there is an obvious and growing resentment which Im sure is based on ignorance and fear, but, so I can be well informed with acurate facts to respond to this racism... can anyone explain to me why so many retail and hotel companies do indeed seem to employ so many eastern Europeans to the point where I am surprised when an English person serves me?

Is it? ...simply that young polish people have a better work ethic and interview for all these jobs well?... or is there some form of employment contract that companies have to provide jobs direct to Polish people who want to work in England?

Please can you enlighten me ..but I need calm facts not heated responses:))??

I don't know about retail, I'm an accountant. I've worked in 5 companies and all have hired other accountants apart from me who were from Poland. In general they seem pleased, but they try to stop us from chatting in Polish (not loudly, but when standing next to one another).

I've also got two Polish friends who are design engineers.

I know about people working in retail, but it's hard to get along. The question of them earning the basic rate is always there.

Retail I don't know. Hospitality is another story and I remember 18 years ago there was already hardly any Briton to be found working at least in this sector (at least at employee level). I think it's a combination of long hours, low wages and a sector which has not got an attractive image in the UK (not the case in other countries like Switzerland, Austria or France where it is viewed as an attractive sector).

Merged: POLISH PEOPLE IN MANCHESTER (to answer a few questions)

Hello,

I am a journalist writing an article about Polish people in Manchester and I am looking for people who would be willing to answer a few questions about what it is like being Polish and living in Manchester.

To tell you something about myself, prior to moving back to the UK I lived in Warszawa for 4 years, working as an English teacher. I have a lot of Polish friends and even went to Hel and Sopot for my summer holidays this year!

What I need is to find out the real experiences of Poles living in Manchester.

Anyone who is interested can contact me on the forum and I will get back to you with my contact details.

Regards,

Dave Ingham

Merged:Manchester Poles Photography Project

Hi All,
I have just registered to this site as I am English photographer living in Manchester a city which now has a sizable Polish community. I believe the Poles have made a large contribution to the local economy both in labour and spending terms which is why I was dismayed following the riots in August when local residents attributed the rioters actions due to to "The Polish taking all our jobs". These comments were broadcast on SKY which has led me to produce a counter argument visually.

My intention is to produce a body of photographic work which shall portray Manchester's Polish workers to be exhibited next year in the City Centre. The images shall convey the real story and not the sham often portrayed.

Displayed alongside the images shall be text detailing the workers lives in Manchester (possibly the use of audio too) as a way to tell the story of the necessary act of reinvention as they track their new surroundings. The project shall show how they are forced to create a new way to live.

I am currently speaking to members of the Polish community in Manchester who so far have all supported my intentions offering assistance. I would like though to hear your views as to the project ie, - is it worthy, how would you like to see it approached etc. Or if there are any Manchester Poles who should like to be involved?

Many thanks

Yeah, I think it's worth pursuing. If I lived in Manchester I'd probably like to take part. Best of luck to you.

The real story sounds good. Poles have done well in the UK and their contribution should be recorded and exhibited. Be aware, though, that anything that shows Poles in anything other than a glowing light will be jumped on as polonophobic by some, especially Americans of Polish ancestry. Good luck.

Everything Tef said,plus, dont leave the locals out.
A photo reportage hagiography of good 'ard working Poles doing the jobs the locals wont do(yeah,wot ever...) will do zero for community cohesion IMHO.

thanks for the comments, I am keen to involve the Polish community as much as possible and so the story is conveyed correctly am considering the use of text or possibly audio interviews with the participants. This i feel would pass some of the control over to the subjects.

[quote]A photo reportage hagiography of good 'ard working Poles doing the jobs the locals wont do(yeah,wot ever...) will do zero for community cohesion IMHO./quote]

Thanks, though lack of community cohesion is normally down to ignorance in my experience, which is a large reason why I am undertaking this project.

True, hope you didnt take it as a negative. Im just here in the North putting up with hearing the same sort of trash from other locals about "the Poles".....

Not at all, I appreciate your feedback. I am in the very early days of this project which shall run until May and realise it is a very emotive topic, hence why I am seeking as much input as possible from the Polish community. (something I am considering is to put together a website which shall work in conjunction toward the exhibition and allow workers to update their own images of themselves or short stories about their experiences in the UK)

Merged: Polish Graphic Artists

cześć, my name is Andy Moseley and I am a photographer beginning a project on Polish workers in my home city of Manchester UK, this shall culminate in an exhibition in the city next summer. Alongside the exhibition a website is to be set up allowing workers to upload images of themselves and to talk of their experiences. I felt this would be a democratic and collaborative way of telling the stories of the Poles living in Manchester.

For the project I am looking for a graphic to adorn the literature and website and thought it would be a nice dimension if this was contributed by a Pole living in the city.

Just wondered if anybody was interested?

Hey, how's the project going? Sound very interesting tho! I'm thinking of doing photographic project on Poles - in meaning of their representation in community. Just been looking for some organizations/communities to cooperate with.

Merged:Polish bein' Polish abroad (Manchester)

People,

is anything goin' on in Manchester?

What do Poles do here that is in conjunct with their own culture?

Does any of you actually perform the Easter tradition with water over here?

Cheers cheers :-)

Polish R C Church Of Divine Mercy, Lloyd Street North, Manchester.

South Manchester, there also used to be a Polish club in Cheetham Hill, which was set up after the war, but it recently closed.

Hope this helps :)

Merged: Polish people in Manchester?

Hi everyone

Basically I'm a student of Manchester Metropolitan University and am doing a project which involves looking at the patterns of polish migrants who live in Manchester. To do this I am hoping to interview people about their migration to the UK, and this may include questions about why you came here, how your life has changed, if there have been any problems, what other places you went to, why you have chosen this particular city etc. This interviews will remain completely confidential and I will not need any names or anything like that.

Whilst I am looking to conduct face to face interviews if possible, I would be extremely happy to do interviews via email or private messages on here.

If anyone is interested or may know anyone who is I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks

If you actually come form Manchester / live here, you only have to walk down a street in a not so pleasant area (Cheetham Hill, Salford, etc. etc.) to find a Polish shop, go in and ask them if they'd kindly help you.

Also if you knew anything at all about Manchester, you'd know having Polish communities, itsn't exactly new, Poles and Ukies have been here for decades...Long before the arrival of the new lot...Crumpsal has/had a large community as did other areas (strangely enough the more afluent areas were where Poles settled back then!)

Thanks for the reply. I had thought about going into Polish shops but to be honest I'm not totally sure where to find a lot of them, any recommendations other than what you already posted?

Also I knew there was older communities but I was looking to research the newer communities for this project

Thanks

Try any of these:

poloniamanchester.net
leeds-manchester.pl
forum.naszmanchester.org
mojawyspa.co.uk/forum/51/967/polacy-w-manchester
manchester4u.pl

Given the likelihood of a low take-up rate, you should probably use all of them.

yelp.co.uk/biz/polish-food-store-manchester
manchester2002-uk.com/shops/polish-shops-manchester.html

Just go down to the bottom of Cheetham Hill Road there's a little restaurant that's Polish (more like a cafe) and there's a shop, King David's school end, not the other, you'd be hard pushed to find anything remotely european there!

There used to be the Polish Circle club on Cheetham Hill Road, but its closed now...that would have been a very good place to get some info.

Try Prestwich, probably a better class of person who owns the shop as its a nice area.

393 Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester M25 1AW. Tel: 0161-798 0452.

Good luck!

Let's face it, you're never going to return to this forum (these "researchers" never do :p ), but this link may be a good start for others who are genuinely interested in such matters:


oi... some parts of Salford :p


That one closed a couple of years ago.


According to "Shameless", there's one in Benchill! This is false. lol

Ha don't worry I have returned. Thanks for that link though looks really useful. If theres anyone here from Manchester or even the sort of North West area in general who would be willing to answer a few questions over email - nothing too personal just looking at "everyday spaces" I would really appreciate the help. I don't need any personal details and you can stop whenever you want, it would be great.

Another option is to go on Facebook and type names into search such as "Ania", "Kasia" "Darek", "Marek" etc and then message them direct

I wonder if, there's anyone on the active line (network) because, I've got a similar affair to yours and to this a solution in this area is not solved yet

Just go to the job centre, you will find most of them there. The one in Prestwich is full of them.

Now adays it is hard to find british people in uk, Most of the people are poles.

there are way more Asians than Poles

In that case I think they should vote a new government into power, more representative.

Hello,
I don't know you can help but I am trying to trace a friend's relative who she lost touch with many years ago .She lived at 266 Dickenson road rusholme Manchester her name was Karen Hdwalke. Any information as to how her cousin could contact her would be helpful. Paul Brooks : Paulandjackiebrooks@uwclub.net

Merged: Polish people living in Manchester

Hi guys,

My name is Jack and I am student journalist at the University of Salford and a writer at quaysnews.com. Recently there was a story in the Times that showed a quarter of foreign nationals living in the UK (1.27 million) are from ten european states that have joined the EU since 2004, and half of that number are from Poland. The number of foreign nationals living in the UK rose by 3% last year.

I am looking to do a story on Polish nationals in the Manchester area and I was wondering if you could help. I would love to speak to someone who has arrived in the UK from Poland and speak to them about the differing conditions, why work is better in Manchester, the difficulty of moving away from their family etc. I'd also like to discuss what David Cameron is doing about immigration (something that I strongly disagree with). Would you be able to help?

Thanks,

Jack

Hi Jack!
I could help, I am a student at a Uni right now, though I did work over here, PM me if you are interested.
Kind Regards

What is David Cameron doing about immigration?