An edition of the Tyne Tees Television programme investigating topics affecting life in the North East. This week Sheilagh Matheson meets some of the young highly educated Polish men and women who have migrated to the region to find a better life. Many currently work in low-paid jobs, but they talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. As well as looking at what these young people can offer the region, Sheilagh travels to Poland to meet one man from Newcastle who believes the country...

An edition of the Tyne Tees Television programme investigating topics affecting life in the North East. This week Sheilagh Matheson meets some of the young highly educated Polish men and women who have migrated to the region to find a better life. Many currently work in low-paid jobs, but they talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. As well as looking at what these young people can offer the region, Sheilagh travels to Poland to meet one man from Newcastle who believes the country can provide opportunities for many Britain’s. Title: Northern Eye. The New North Easterners Inside St Mary’s Catholic Church in Bishop Auckland two Catholic priests conduct a baptism service in Polish for a Polish congregation. Through a translator the father of the child Krzysztof Zbrobniec wishes a good education and a happy future for his child. A split screen montage featuring people walking through the streets of Gdansk in Poland changing to signs in Newcastle shop windows for Polish products. Inside The Globe public house on Scotswood Road in Newcastle a vox pop with both Polish and Newcastle drinkers about each other company. In the kitchen a cook preparing Polish food. A second split screen montage featuring three young Poles Marta, Anna and Mariusz, all of whom are highly educated, but working in low pay dead-end jobs. Outside Eldon Square bus station in Newcastle Martin Harris from Go North East explains why those from Poland are important for his and the regions economy. Back inside The Globe young Poles drinking and chatting happily. The Gdansk shipyards in Poland with run-down derelict buildings. Posters of Solidarity leader Lech Walesa hang from gates outside a shipyard, on a concrete wall metal plaques or memorials, some with ornate sculptures, relating to the counties struggle for independence. Old Soviet era apartment blocks change to new modern high-rise apartments and views of the historic heart of the city. Gabriela Kosicka conducts a tour of the old city, she explains why young people are leaving the country for places like Newcastle, better wages and high unemployment are the main reasons. Powel and Marta Rzepecki sit on their sofa playing with their baby daughter Megan, Powel explains the reasons for the families move from Gdansk to Newcastle was the lack of prospects for the future. The Soviet era apartment block seen previously changes to Rose Poole from J.S. Hamilton Recruitment walking into the office block where the recruitment agency she works for is based, outside traffic move past along a dual carriageway. In her office and through a translator a client explains his reasons for wanting to return to the United Kingdom (UK) to find work. Rose explains the types of people and jobs her agency deal with. The bread-and-butter od her work is recruiting for hospitality positions, but they are getting more and more requests for highly-skilled workers in design engineering as well as in health care such as doctors, dentists and shortly nurses. Gabriela Kosicka talks speaking with her doctor whose colleague moved to the UK and is earning twelve-times the salary he is paid in Poland. A montage of Newcastle and Gateshead featuring the River Tyne and a family walking past the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. An elderly gentleman climbs onto a bus and Martin Harris from Go North East explains why the company had to look to Poland to recruit new drivers and the benefits these drives bring. As he talks various Go North East buses coming into and out of Eldon Square bus station. Marta Zielinska, a post-graduate student studying for a master’s degree at Newcastle University comes and sits at a desk to read through a grant application for the Community Foundation. She and her friends have set up a North East Polish Community Organisation (NEPCO). Marta explains that many Poles who come to the UK have higher levels of education but work in low-paying jobs due to the lack of opportunities in Poland. As she speaks a young Polish man Mariusz Ilewicz works to repair bicycles in a workshop. Marta provides examples of other graduates like herself who now work in low-wage dead-end jobs. Anna Fraszczyk and Matha sit at a table in The Globe speaking with two young men, Anna, who is studying for her doctorate, explains why now is a good time to look for a better paid job than the one she has now as a barmaid. She would like to work in the public sector or in charities. Anna looks in an estate agents window for a house for her brother who is a carpenter. Inside she speaks with an agent about the price range of properties her brother is looking for. He is looking to buy several properties in the city to develop a portfolio, Anna explains what she gets out of the deal. A montage of images around Newcastle and Gateshead with Anna explaining why she likes living in the region. She is looking to stay here for a few more years. Title: Northern Eye. The New North Easterners Another spit screen montage featuring scenes around Gdansk in Poland changing to some of young Poles going about their business and enjoying a drink with friends inside The Globe. Powel and Marta Rzepecki continue to play with their youngest daughter Megan changing to a photograph of their eldest daughter Mia who still lives in Poland. In a Newcastle coffee shop Marta at work while at home Powel is studying on a computer. Powel talks about the course he is doing and how he is working to improve himself and get ahead in the world. Marta comes home from work and greets her daughter in a garden sitting with an older woman. Martha explains that now her language skills have improved it is time for her to find a proper job around her higher-degree qualification. Pawel explains he never expected to have a second child or own a house, he talks about his hopes for the future. In his workshop Mariusz Ilewicz working on a bicycle changes to Peter Harrison, Mariusz employer at Cycleolgical who explains the challenges of finding someone with Mariusz qualifications to work on bikes on how well he is doing in the job. At the bar inside The Glove Mariusz enjoys a drink, he talks about hoping to get on a course at Newcastle College to improve his language skills, his plans are to open a bicycle shops either in Newcastle or back in Poland. Peter Harrison states he has no issues with working with people from other countries. From a balcony in his businesses building Tony Cosh from Newcastle City Technology explains that there is an opportunity to re-populate the region and attract the talent needed to grow in a competitive economy from migrants and who are already working in the area in low-paid jobs but who are high-skills and professional qualified. As he talks members NEPCO including Marta Zielinska hold a meeting. Tony shakes hands with two women and holds a meeting with them. As he does so he explains that he is leaving his current position and setting up his own company to attract Poles to the region. A phantom car ride through the Kashubian countryside of Poland changes to Newcastle born former journalist and now hotelier John Borrell herding a flock of sheep along a county road towards Kania Lodge, a luxury hotel he runs. He explains the opportunity he saw in moving to the country in the 1990s that were not available anywhere else. Another phantom car ride through the Polish countryside changes to John and a woman walking into a barn on his property from which he runs Poland’s biggest mail-order wine business. Inside John speaks with the woman regarding which wines to provide guests at the lodge. Newly planted vines growing in John vineyard changes to him sitting at a computer working in a local newspaper he produces ‘Express Kaszubsi’. He talks about the opportunities for British people to go into business in Poland. A montage of images relating to the opportunities John is aware of in agriculture, industry, production of food-stuffs to the building and running of ports. Wages in Poland are beginning to rise as employers find it harder to find people to work in skilled jobs. John would be interested in knowing how many of the Poles now living in the UK will stay or will return to Poland. Back in her Newcastle flat Marta Zielinska packs in readiness to return to Poland at the end of her studies. Inside The Globe she holds a farewell party hugging and kissing the owner, American born Pole Elizabeth Jasiak. Sitting at the bar Elizabeth talks about her career and why she became a publican and create a Polish community inside the pub. As she talks about the recently appointed Polish cook, in the kitchen another Polish dish being prepared. Sitting around a table people from China, Japan and Latvia say their goodbyes to Marta alongside friends from Poland and Gateshead. Martha believes it is easier to make your dreams come true here in the UK than in Poland. She explains why. Credit: Cameras Dave Dixon, Simon Glass Sound Recordist Chris Corner, Simon Forrester, Nic Grant Graphics Jon King Sound Post Production The Edge Editor Peter Telford Online Editor Mark Duncan Executive Producer Graeme Thompson Series Producer Mary Wimpress Producer and Director Sheilagh Matheson © SilverLining 2007 End credit: SilverLining production for ITV