Lighthouse Property Services

Breaking down the language barrier

A Lincoln property letting agency has taken the innovative step of employing a native Polish speaker to help provide a specialised service to the increasing numbers of eastern Europeans looking for a place to live.

Alicja Kaplon (24) started in her new job on Monday 30th April 2007, working as a private letting negotiator at Lighthouse Property Services on Carholme Road in Lincoln.

Alicja, who was born in Poland but grew up in Canada, has been living in Lincoln since July 2004, two months after Poland and a number of other eastern European states joined the European Union.

There are now around 6,000 Poles living in the city, not to mention hundreds of others from Baltic countries such as Lithuania.

Lighthouse Property Services is the only letting agency in Lincoln to employ a native Polish speaker. Managing Director Tim Clark feels it's important that people and businesses in the city do their utmost to help migrant workers to feel at home.

"With numbers of migrants from Eastern Europe increasing we feel there's a need to provide a specialised service," said Tim.

"We can identify properties which suit the requirements of the migrant population, close to public transport routes and shops, to enable them to integrate successfully into the community.

"And we can help our visitors to feel more comfortable when they're applying for a property because here they can speak to someone who's a native speaker of their own language."

Polish is now officially Lincoln's second language, and Alicja is also able to communicate effectively with people from many Baltic countries.

"When I was three years old I moved to Canada and I lived there for 12 years, so I speak English as well as I speak Polish," says Alicja.

"I rather like Lincoln - it's a very nice city and the people have always been very polite and kind. Everyone seems so pleasant, saying 'Excuse me,' 'Thank you' and 'Sorry' all the time."

Migrant workers – the facts

• There are around 6,000 Polish people living in Lincoln

• In Lincolnshire migrant workers make up around 10 per cent of the population

• Monks Abbey School in Lincoln has pupils on its roll from 20 different countries; 70 if its 380 pupils are from overseas

• There are around 75,000 migrants working in Lincolnshire, mostly on farms or in factories

• Migrant workers come from countries including Poland, Portugal, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia