Recently, I read about a project in the Black Country offering medically quali­fied refugees and migrants English lessons and work experience in a clinical ­environment.

Our City: Migrants and the Making of Modern Birmingham
JON BLOOMFIELD
(Unbound, 288 PP, £18.99)
Tablet bookshop price £17.09 • Tel 020 7799 4064

Recently, I read about a project in the Black Country offering medically quali­fied refugees and migrants English lessons and work experience in a clinical ­environment. The aim was to help address the growing crisis in NHS staffing levels. To date, almost 200 people have been recruited. The article, published in The Guardian, was written by Jon Bloomfield, historian, urban policy specialist and author of Our City. It is exactly this kind of success story that Bloomfield highlights in his engaging and accessible study of Birmingham, the ­second-largest city ­economy in Britain.

Bloomfield has lived and worked there for 40 years. He is proud to be known as the man who brought the Frankfurt Christmas Market to Birmingham and fought to make it a ­success. Bloomfield is evidently keen to project his home city as progressive and outward- looking, rather than riven by ethnic and cultural tensions.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login