Aghareed and Sanaa arrived recently in Manchester from Baghdad in Iraq, where the destructive legacy from civil war rages on.

Now in the UK, their biggest frustration is communication - being unable to express themselves in the English language. Without it their employment and social opportunities in the UK are extremely limited.

But the women have found a surprising way to tackle this: dumplings.

Visit Cheetham Hill community centre or Levenshulme Inspire on certain days, and you'll find Heart and Parcel , a social enterprise using the humble dumpling to bring migrant women together and teach English speaking skills.

Today Aghareed and Sanaa are taking the lead, teaching their class of around thirty fellow migrant women how to make Iraqi pastries.

Like many migrant people, Aghareed and Sanaa want to learn English, but resources to do so are extremely limited. Aside from Heart and Parcel, the government-run English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course is their main option.

(Image: @heartandparcel)

In early 2016, former prime minister David Cameron was accused of stigmatising Muslim women, after warned that spouses who fail language tests after two and a half years in the UK may be forced to leave the country.

He announced £20m of funding to support teaching, but this seemingly generous funding was preceded by devastating cuts of £45m to similar services in 2015.

But how do dumplings help?

There is a huge gap in the ESOL classes, explains Heart and Parcel co-founder Clare Courtney, and - together with fellow founder Karolina Koscien - they intend to fill that gap with dumplings.

"Food is the integral part to what we do. It’s the neutral thing to bind everything together."

(Image: @heartandparcel)

She continues: “If they [migrants sitting the English test] don’t say the numbers from one to 10 and spell them correctly, then they’ve failed their learning outcome,” explains Courtney .

“At Heart and Parcel’s classes, we’re throwing all that out the window, taking the pressure away.”

English speaking is woven into various elements of the dumpling-making session. Vocabulary used is written on the board, while Clare and Karolina make conversation with their pupils in English. The session is rounded off with a vocabulary sheet, to hone in on more complex grammar.

In order to raise money and keep the classes going, Clare and Karolina run supper clubs from their home, and work with the women to sell their multicultural dumplings at markets across Manchester.

In the future, says Clare, they hope to support the women to set up their own food businesses to empower them even further.

"This new approach to ESOL allows women to develop their skills and realise their potential, giving space to explore these hidden resources whilst making friends across communities along the way," Heart and Parcel write on their website.

"We want them to be valued on their wealth of previous experiences and wisdom, rather than be assessed and judged by the language skills that they have not yet acquired."

Find Heart and Parcel selling their dumplings at the University of Manchester Market Levenshulme Market on Saturday 23 July from 10am-4pm.

heartparcel.wordpress.com / @heartandparcel