Working on the Migrant Access Project (MAP) across the city of Leeds. The MAP is very important to Leeds City Council to help reduce pressures on statutory services and to help new arrivals settle in Leeds, and this is beneficial for all the people of Leeds. Part of the MAP is to train Migrant Community Networkers (MCNs) who are from different national, ethnic or language backgrounds so they can tell new arrivals within their communities about life in Leeds. Working in partnership with many services across Leeds is very important for the success of MAP. Leeds is a big vibrant and diverse city, and we are passionate about supporting community members so that people can help people.

Think of MAP as a living human MAP. People who are new or unfamiliar to Leeds don’t know how things work; communities may need to know what services are available and how they can access the right service at the right time.  MAP provides trained community people who speak community languages to help and empower people with the correct up to date information that is vital for communities to access the services they deserve. This not only benefits migrants, but benefits services to provide effectively, reduce the number of people going to the wrong service or not accessing any at all. MAP creates an excellent opportunity to engage and learn from diverse communities in our city.