Agnieszka Lampart and Pascal Wawrzyniak

Names: Agnieszka Lampart and Pascal Wawrzyniak
Born: Katowice, Poland
Lived in Scotland: Five years

Since moving to Scotland in 2004, Agnieszka Lampart and Pascal Wawrzyniak have helped hundreds of fellow Poles settle in the country.

The duo are behind Scotland.pl, the Polish magazine and web portal, which they run in tandem with Akapit, an information service offering Polish migrants everything from legal to tax advice.

"We came to visit Scotland and liked it so much that we stayed," Agnieszka explains.

"We started working in recruitment because there was a great need for people in that industry with marketing and management backgrounds who speak both Polish and English.

"It was when we were working in different agencies that we saw this huge wave of Poles coming to Scotland with great skills in areas like construction and hospitality. But because the system in Scotland is totally different to Poland, it was very difficult for them.

"For example, we don't have Council Tax in Poland - so they were a little lost and had a lot of problems. That's how the idea of the magazine came about - as a source of information for Poles coming to Scotland."

Pascal and Agnieszka had the idea of a walk-in advice bureau at the same time and received much support in setting this up from Glasgow City Council, who acknowledged that Polish migrants needed information in their own language.

Akapit on Old Dumbarton Road in Glasgow's West End has now applied to be registered as a charity to improve the way it helps many hundreds of Poles with advice on issues such as taxes, National Insurance, schooling, employment and accommodation.

The first issue of Scotland.pl was launched in January 2007 as a 16-page magazine, supported by a grant from Scotland UnLtd, a charity that supports social entrepreneurs. Many journalists, photographers and designers co-operated with them to give their time for free. The title is now 32 pages and has a monthly circulation of 15,000 across Scotland, including Polish shops, restaurants, clubs, churches and libraries.

Pascal says: "The beginning was very difficult, because to publish a free magazine is very expensive. We didn't have any advertising at that stage so we had to cover everything on our own. After three years we can now tell it works. It is very well established and for so many Polish people is their only source of information."

Pascal and Agnieszka, both 32, are now developing a spin-off business offering print, design and publishing services, using the knowledge and contacts they have built up through their own experience. They employ two full time staff members - a bureau manager and a designer - and use a number of freelance professionals.

The duo are both from Katowice in southern Poland and speak fluent French, as well as English. Pascal completed a Masters degree in marketing and management at university in Krakow before a postgraduate in international marketing at business school in Liege, Belgium.

Agnieszka received a Bachelors degree in French from the Silesian University in Poland, then went on to complete a Masters in France and a postgraduate in Belgium. Both admit that they found Scotland a very friendly country, and relatively hassle-free and uncomplicated compared to Poland or France in terms of bureaucracy.

"I have a three-year old daughter and what's good for me is that I can travel to lots of difference places in Scotland with a small child," Agnieszka says. "People are very tolerant of children here and prepared to receive them. It's much harder in Poland and other parts of Europe."

Pascal adds: "I'm a very active person and what I enjoy most in Scotland is that there are so many opportunities to be active in sports. I can get my bike and be in the mountains in half an hour. I like to sail too, and there are so many brilliant lakes. It's great - everything is so close and open."

Scotland UnLtd presented Pascal and Agnieszka with an award for social entrepreneurship in 2007.

Contact

Scotland.pl/Akapit
5 Old Dumbarton Road
Glasgow
G3 8QY

T: 0141 339 0011
W: www.scotland.pl
E: scotland@scotland.pl