About us
Polish Language, Culture, and Affairs (POLCA) is a charitable organization which aims to promote and advance the Polish language and culture and support Polish people in Northern Ireland. The main purposes include:
- Promoting and shaping the Polish identity In Northern Ireland;
- Advancing Polish education in NI;
- Promoting and helping Polish community to integrate well (internally and externally);
- Supporting the Polish community in NI in all aspects pertaining to its welfare.
The above purposes are carried out by developing and implementing various programmes - educational, cultural and social - as well as by promoting Polish science, culture, and arts and by cherishing the positive contribution Polish people have been making to Northern Ireland as well as the European and world-wide history.
POLCA Board of Trustees is representative of Polish as well as Northern Irish communities, the latter with strong Polish links. Their role is to oversee the organization and create and implement effective strategy for its development.
For the 2023/24 the following Trustees were reappointed:
Rev David Armstrong - Chair
Aleksander Paprocki - Secretary
John Cieślik - Treasurer
Mateusz Gawlik
Contact the board by e-mail: info@polca.org.uk
Language (Język)
- POLCA runs Polish Language & Culture School in Belfast. We offer Polish immersion classes to children aged 3 to 14 as well as accredited volunteer programmes for 14-25 year olds and a youth club.
- During
pandemic (2021) we organized remotely creative writing and illustrating
workshops for children and adults and were able to publish a well
received bilingual book.
- POLCA organizes workshops for parents and teachers on supporting bilingualism in children. New workshop dates coming soon!
Culture (Kultura)
POLCA seeks to promote Polish culture in Northern Ireland
Current and upcoming projects:
- Professional drawing and painting classes for children and young people
- Multicultural Festival MELA
- Art exhibitions and music concerts
- Polish Heritage Days in May
- Cultural Exchange Programme - with local community organizations
Past projects included:
- Classroom +, partnering in a project run by Chinese Welfare Association (CWA) with Stranmillis University College, this was a continuation of B.Me project introducing BME cultural heritage to pupils in local schools. Classroom+ aimed to create better schools workshops that would link with the NI Primary school curriculum.
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Affairs (Integracja)
The recent Census (2021) showed that almost 24,000 Polish people made Northern Ireland their home (over 4,500 in Belfast). POLCA is committed to promoting their welfare and facilitating their integration in Northern Ireland, and participates in various projects in partnership with local statutory and voluntary groups.
Current and upcoming projects:
POLCA is one of organizations on the TEO's Racial Equality Sub-Group, a panel made up of representatives of groups and bodies led by or working with ethnic minorities in NI. The Group's role is to ensure that the Racial Equality Strategy is fit for purpose and is being implemented. More on the Sub-Group can be found here.
- We were involved recently in CWA-led (Chinese Welfare Association) project called HELPinHAND whose aim was to create a mobile app assisting people experiencing racially-motivated hate crime. The app is already available, also in the Polish version. Go to https://www.cwa-ni.org/helpinhand/ to find out more and download the app. Share it with people in your circles.
In the past we were involved, among others, in the following projects:
POLCA partnered in the research commissioned by Belfast City Council, PHA and BHSCT to identify inequalities experienced by BAME and Traveller people residing in Belfast. The research report was launched on 1st December 2022. You can find more info on Belfast City Council's website here.
A pilot Health Literacy project raising awareness of being active and healthy eating and co-designing two leaflets in the Polish language in co-operation with Chinese Welfare Association (CWA).
BME Older People Health and Wellbeing Needs Assessment Steering Group run by BHSCT. The project ran until March 2018 and aimed at improving lives of elderly people in health and social care settings.
