Hi i was just wondering if theres any Polish or eastern Europeans living in Cardiff or Wales in general on this site.If so message me i have questions to ask u about Poland and what you think of living in UK etc, thanks :)
Merged thread: Polish in Wales
are there many Polish in Wales, UK if so are they increasing or decreasing in numbers?
From my point of view ive never heard of any Poles that are going to, live in or have left Wales. Its always England then Ireland then Scotland with regard to the islands.
Poles don't come to GB and Ireland anymore. Emigration stopped around 2008. Now those who managed to set their lives in GB stayed there for good and those who don't are returning home. And THIS IS A FACT!
From my point of view ive never heard of any Poles that are going to, live in or have left Wales.
I've read an article about Wrexham where live many Poles. Once I've met a guy from Wales and he said that in his town there is lot of Polish people.
I guess there are/were many Poles in Wales but Wales was not so popular aim of emigration (as Scotland, England, Ireland). I have no idea why.
When I was holidaying in Angelsey there were more than a few Poles (OK, they might have been holidaying too). However, I was told by a guide in Llangollen that there were a fair few Poles in that area (OK, it was about 2 years ago).
I agree but it's all about employment opportunities, isn't it? Cardiff being a Capital city has a higher resource pulling power, and with that comes competition for jobs. It could be that the Poles find it much easier to get work in lesser populated towns.
To be honest, i thought 1000 was a significant number!
Plenty of Polish living in Cardiff and South Wales. Plenty od other central europeans as well. I dont know about eastern europeans (russia, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine...)
There are not as much Polish ppl in Wales as in London but many of them are run away from the capital. I have checked "Oxford University's Migration Observatory releases comprehensive census analysis of migrants in Wales" report and there is few information about it: "The growth in Wales' migrant population has been fuelled by a significant (1,163%) increase in it's Polish-born population, which increased from 1,427 in 2001 to 18,023 in 2011. Polish-born people now represent Wales' largest migrant group and 95% of Polish-born people living in Wales have arrived since 2001 (...) Residents born in Poland represent the most numerous non-UK born group in Wales (18,023 residents) followed by residents born in Ireland (12,175) and India (11,874). Polish-born residents represented 11% of the total non-UK born population residing in Wales. Polish-born residents represented 11% of the total non-UK born population residing in Wales." Unfortunately I didn't find any report for years 2011-2015, possibly numbers grow up. To be honest, I left London a month ago, after me 10 other Polish friends, all of us are currently based in Cardiff area and fortunatelly we enjoy much more living in Wales than in London.
One problem about moving to Wales is that the population centres are concentrated in certain areas with the rest being rural. That and very high unemployment.
Nevertheless, Poles have been moving to Wales for decades - there were resettlement camps there after the war and many Poles went to work in th coal and steel industries.
As an aside, the 'Butcher of Cwmdu' is one of the more notorious Polish migrants to Wales... murderpedia.org/male.O/o/onufrejczyc-michael.htm
we enjoy much more living in Wales than in London.
well it is a different world really isnt it? My son is half Polish and we live in Wales, and some Welsh kid started telling him that he 'would have to work in Dunbia for the rest of his life'.
Dunbia is a local meat processing plant which is basically staffed by Polish guys. Local to us is a graveyard where many Polish people from WW2 days are buried.
Yes, I already have possibilities to see pros and cons living in Wales. I said we enjoy more living in Wales than in London for simple economic reasons (for instance in London rental fees are very high) but on another hand you are absolutely right, this is a different world and I perfectly understand what you highlighting through this story about your son, what a Welsh kid said to your son certainly heard from adults. Last time I have spoken to Polish friend of mine who is living around 30 years in Wales, she has two kids and they are born from Polish parents, in fact those kids don't even speak Polish, they feel absolutely Welsh (which makes sense because they grew up here), and such duality now: for Polish they are not Polish at all, for Welsh they are just Polish emigrants to the end of them life.
A 9 years old son of my another Polish friend (he was born in UK) wrote beautiful words (they are already published in the young writers book) I would like to poste them because they are very, very impressive:
THE LAND OF NOWHERE
Every minute I look ahead, Far into the snow and ice, Nowhere to go, No friends I have, I can't go back Because it is already begun. I look back And hit the ground with a thud. Then everything turned black, When I woke up I was in the Land of Nowhere When everything turned black. I was dreaming Of climbing a mountain. I was at the top of the world And I was gazing at the world. So small like the whole world was a game, One big game. There is was in the Land of Nowhere.
Hi I'm Tony I welcome eastern European people with open arms they were are Alys in last world war we need more people year who respect us and I respect you so please welcome me to your community .
