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Old July 21st, 2018 #1
James Hawthorne
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Woodpecker Immigration in Liverpool

We spoke to everyone on Lawrence Road for a picture of how life is changing in Liverpool

From Asian mini-markets to African barber shops, the street has been shaped by every new wave of immigration

We live in an overwhelmingly white city.

In Liverpool minority ethnic groups make up less than one fifth of the entire population. Compared to our neighbours in Manchester or cities like Nottingham and Birmingham, Liverpool isn't actually as diverse as you might think.

But on one South Liverpool street, shop owners, business people and residents from all over the world have moved in, put down roots and built a thriving community that is truly multicultural.

From Asian mini-markets to African barber shops and Romanian convenience stores, the street has been shaped by every new wave of immigration to the area.

We spoke to the people who have lived on Lawrence Road their entire lives, the shop owners who have built their businesses there and the new arrivals starting a life in Liverpool to find out how it has changed over the years

Lawrence Road is one of the few streets in Liverpool you can walk down and see minority ethnic groups making up a strong majority.

Putting down roots - how immigrant communities have shaped Lawrence Road’s shopfronts

While it might be located in the heart of South Liverpool, taking a walk down Lawrence Road can sometimes feel like you’re in another part of the world altogether.

Mini-markets, cafes and clothes shops have been set up by people who came to the city from across the globe and it’s combined to create an incredibly diverse set of storefronts.

Mubarak Ali works in J.B. Halal Superstore, a one-stop shop for everything from crushed chillies to whole chickens. While it specialises in Halal meat, Mubarak says they attract customers of all religions with their produce.

In his 13 years working at the store, which is owned by a family from Manchester, he’s seen the street develop and grow.

He said he’s seen more shops opening on Lawrence Road, as well as witnessing transient communities come and go from the area.

So what’s it like being the new kids on the block? One one end of the street, closer to Gainsborough Road, one couple have just opened their first business together.

Annmaria and George Goram moved to Liverpool from Romania and after working other jobs to save money, they opened a Romanian convenience store, selling the kind of home comforts you can’t pick up in Tesco.

Showing me the selection of sweets, pastries and sausages on display inside her shop, Annmaria, 33, explained that the Romanian community is growing a lot around Lawrence Road.

Annmaria, who worked as a nurse in Romania before moving to the UK and working in a letting agency, said: “We have owned this shop for about 10 months. There are a lot of Romanians in the community and I thought it would be a good thing to open the shop.

“I moved over from Romania three years ago. We saved and some of our family helped us with the money.

“The Romanian community is growing a lot. It’s a multicultural area. People from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Lithuania and English people all come here to shop. It’s multiracial.

“It’s still difficult because it’s not a long time since we opened and it’s still difficult but we carry on.”

She runs the shop with the help of her husband George, 29, and other members of the family - selling products that members of the Romanian community miss seeing on the shelves back home.

After waves of immigration stretching back decades, Lawrence Road is still proving attractive for new arrivals to Liverpool who have their own hopes of opening businesses, putting down roots and building a life in the city.

There used to be a lot of racism’

On one side of the street stands a terrace house which is being gutted, evidenced by the stacks of flagstones and tins of paint piled up outside.

Sitting on a bench behind the front gate is Leonard Wallington, the owner, who perches on his workbench watching the world go by.

At 63 years old, Leonard has seen first-hand the changes on Lawrence Road, having lived in the area all his life.

After renting an apartment nearby, he decided to put his money into a property on the street two years ago, and he’s worked hard to renovate it and turn it into a beautiful family home.

Reflecting on how the area has changed in his lifetime, Leonard is adamant he wants the house to be rented out to a family who plan on putting down roots in the area - and not to become a multiple occupancy property with no real ties to the community.

He said: “It’s a very nice house. I’ve invested a lot of money in this area. It was a dump when I bought it. I’ve put in new flooring and central heating.

“What’s appealing to this areas it that it’s multicultural. A friend of mine is the Imam in the prayer room down there. I’ve known him for about 25 years. He knows a lot of the muslims. I know a lot of the locals and the businesses.

“The locals are very good because people have been here for quite a while. There are some great shops around here - they serve the community very well. You get a lot of Muslims and they’re very nice. A lot of Eastern Europeans.”

With work on the house still underway, Leonard worries about how some of the more recent changes to the area could affect people’s perceptions - and deter others from moving in and settling down.

He said: “The problem is the reputation people are bringing to this area with perceptions of the area. It might deter people who might move here and relocate here and invest here.

People come from all over the world and places change’

In some cases, a new group moving into a long-established community can cause friction as two monocultures try to come to terms with one another.

However, on Lawrence Road, waves of immigration from around the world have meant the area has evolved into a truly multicultural community where different customs and religions can coexist quite happily.

Like any area, it’s not without its own share of problems and tensions.

A number of the shop owners and residents we spoke to raised concerns about the Romani community, who have been arriving in the area in a steady stream for some time now.

One woman who works on Lawrence Road and was born and brought up in the area said she feels it’s changed for the worse in recent years and that it’s no longer recognisable as the place she used to call home.

She pointed to increased problems with littering, groups of youngsters congregating in the streets and people failing to integrate in the same way other immigrant groups have in the past.

The woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “There’s so much rubbish here. If you put a bag of clothes out for charity it’s gone.”

She added: “I look at it and think it’s not the community I grew up in. I want to move but I can’t because my mum’s here. Why should I have to move, this is my home.”

Another lady who has owned and operated a business on Lawrence Road for over a decade said she feared it had taken a downturn, becoming ‘scruffy’.

She said: “It’s a lovely community - all the shops stick together, the community is lovely. You’re all there for each other.”

Speaking to people working in businesses up and down the street, a number of owners and staff members voiced similar fears that the area had ‘gone downhill’ more recently.

However, some of those who have lived and worked in the area for a number of years felt it was part of the natural ebb and flow of a community that is so strongly defined by different waves of immigration.

One local businessman, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s not a bad area but a lot has changed. I used to have a shop in Kensington. People come from all over the world and places change.”

Location, location, location

Running through an area that borders Wavertree and Toxteth, Lawrence Road sits in one of the city’s more ethnically diverse suburbs.

Picton is Liverpool’s second most multicultural area, coming in just behind Princes Park, with minority ethnic groups making up nearly 40% of the population.

The biggest ethnic groups in the area are categories in the data sets as ‘mixed’ and ‘other’, trailed by ‘black African’, ‘Indian’, ‘Chinese’ and ‘Bangladesh

Compared to areas in the north of the city like Clubmoor and West Derby, which are almost entirely white British, this stretch of South Liverpool is a melting pot of different cultures, customs and religions.

Over the years, Lawrence Road has provided fertile soil for new arrivals in the city to settle and a backdrop against which people can pin their hopes and dreams.

With many immigrants moving to Liverpool and working a number of jobs before saving enough to open their own businesses, the tradespeople on Lawrence Road are a testament to the dedication involved in moving across the world and making an unfamiliar city your home.

Born-and-bred locals who have lived there for generations exist alongside families who have come to Liverpool looking for a fresh start.

While every community has its own tensions and troubles, the people living and working around Lawrence Road have done a good job of building a multicultural community that coexists in relative harmony.


In many ways, the street is a snapshot of the city as a whole. Built around the port, Liverpool has always been shaped by each new wave of immigrants who arrived here.

As Lawrence Road continues to embrace each new culture, custom and way of life that arrives there, it acts as a reminder of the same welcoming spirit that makes Liverpool so special.

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Old July 23rd, 2018 #2
fyc
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wonder how many of these businesses would have been set up without fraud and special grants ?
 
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