Young English language students from the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London have been praised by the College’s principal for voluntary work they carried out at this year’s London Marathon.

The event, which attracts tens of thousands of runners and spectators every year, took place on Sunday 25 April. Eight of The College’s ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students and two staff were there to help the runners make the full 26-mile distance by distributing much-needed water.

It was certainly an early start for the dedicated volunteers, who had to meet at 6:30 on the morning of the event, before making their way to the course, which winds its way through central London. The students – Theophilus Nnana, Liban Mohamed, Sharif Mustafa Mohamed, Betul safak, Mai Anh Nguyen, Ibrahim Shenol, Noman Stanikzai and Khidir Ali Mohamed - and ESOL 16-18 Course Team Leader Songul Usta and ESOL Head of School Ziya Moustafa spent a long day providing refreshment to the runners – some of whom take as long as ten hours to complete the race.

College Principal Paul Head hailed the group’s dedication, saying: “The marathon is a wonderful event, which raises huge sums of money for good causes. It’s brilliant to see our students contributing in that same spirit.”
ESOL student Namon said afterwards: “We were all tired by the end, but it was a very nice day - we all felt proud of ourselves for doing this voluntary work to help the community.” Watching the runners stream past their drinks station obviously had an inspirational effect on the young students, as Liban revealed: “Some of us have decided to sign up for the marathon in the future!”

Fellow student Betul said: “The organisers gave us breakfast - and we even got ice cream at the end. When we came back to College, they gave us thank you letters, which was nice of them. We will also receive a certificate from [volunteering organisation] V-involved for taking part.

The College’s ESOL manager Ziya Moustafa said: “it was a really fun day out, but these young people also put in a lot of hard work – I’m very proud of them”. Their tutor Songul said: “I am also proud of them. Our station was the cleanest as the learners worked very hard to keep it clean and tidy”.