Mature students from east London attended a film premiere to celebrate the launch of a new English learning project.

The students, who come from areas including Newham and Tower Hamlets attended the premiere of London is Home in Bethnal Green on April 24. It is made by e3, a project that uses a mix of online learning and face-to-face support to provide adult learners with the lowest levels of spoken English with anytime, anywhere learning opportunities backed up by a range of activities such as community gardening, enterprise and volunteering.

The film has been commissioned by the e3 Project and made by East London film production company Shaddow Group. It follows the adventures of three women from different communities who meet up and become fast friends. Together, they support each other to become key players in delivering local services – community gardening, social enterprise and volunteering – and improve their English skills as well.

Sara Nahi, outreach officer for Ocean Somali Community Association, said: “I believe this project is revolutionary as it allows women to learn while balancing other priorities.”

Daniel Palmer, Project Outreach Manager with the Evelyn Oldfield Unit, one of the partner organisations within the e3 partnership, said: “I recently spoke-through an interpreter-to a lady named Sultana from Bangladesh. She has no previous formal education and had found it difficult to access a formal ESOL course due to her commitments looking after her children. She feels isolated and frustrated that she cannot help her children with their homework, and finds it difficult to do practical things such as visit a doctor and use public transport. She was really excited about the prospect of undertaking a course in which she could learn English flexibly and additionally become less lonely by meeting people and undertaking community work.”