A WINCHESTER language school has relaunched following an extended period away.

English Naturally had to cancel its bookings from February 2020 due to the pandemic, but now it's back.

Director Chris Polatch said: “The language school business was possibly the very worst affected of all once Covid struck and it has taken a very long time for students and their parents to have the confidence to come to England again. Now though, there is massive pent-up demand and we are seeing a resurgence.

“Despite our difficulties, we decided we should help local Ukrainians as much as possible and offered free summer school places to a number of youngsters this past summer. They mixed with our students from other countries, such as Italy, Spain, UAE and France. In addition, for a period of around six months we built up a small charitable fund, which was handed over recently, whereby £10 was added each time a host family signed up to have students.

“Apart from the pandemic woes, an additional problem has arisen because of Brexit as EU youngsters can no longer travel on ID cards but must have a passport. This can take some time and is costly, so of late Ireland has been more attractive. However, students do love England. The charm of places like Winchester, with its High Street, the Cathedral and all the beautiful green spaces we have is very special. And, of course, students love London, which is so easy to reach."

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English Naturally’s list of local host families was severely depleted during the pandemic.

Chris said: “A lot of hosts have kindly taken in Ukrainians, while others have switched to working from home and so what were bedrooms are now offices. In addition, there is natural wastage – people move, have bigger families, or retire. We’re pleased to say many of our hosts are still keen to have students but we do need more.”

English Naturally has students coming to Winchester for school trips in the late winter and spring – these are generally short stays – while the main activity is in late June/July/early August.

Students are happy to travel in from places such as Kings Worthy, Chandler's Ford and Alresford.

For more information, call 01962 859700 or email accomm@english-naturally.com.