Ian Clarke A triple boost is being given to services based in Thetford which will help thousands of migrant workers - and benefit the wider community.

Ian Clarke

A triple boost is being given to services based in Thetford which will help thousands of migrant workers - and benefit the wider community.

A new one-stop shop in Thetford, mobile information bus service and recruitment of three new staff are all being funded from a �220,000 grant from the government.

The one-stop shop will be based at the META (Mobile Europeans Taking Action) centre at the Limes in Bridge Street.

Three new staff are being recruited who will work part of the time at the centre and also on a new bus which will travel around the district giving advice, information, guidance and support.

One of the aims of the bus is for it to link up with other services and facilities such as mobile libraries and village halls to improve life for people in rural areas.

The three initiatives - which have been supported by the Breckland Local Strategic Partnership - will cost �172,000 and come from the budget given by the Migrant Impact Funding.

Breckland chief executive Trevor Holden said the migrant fund money would benefit people from the whole community as well as the foreign workers and their families.

The new staff will be a service connector team manager and two service connector officers.

Up to date estimates on how many migrant workers live and work in Norfolk are constantly changing but official figures showed that the Breckland population rose by more than 1,300 in 2005/6 almost entirely due to the arrival of immigrants from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal.

Breckland successfully bid for the cash after being the national pilot for a project looking at the impact of migrants on local communities.

The eight month government-backed project looked at cohesion between new and existing communities and came up with a best practice case study for other authorities with similar issues.