Melton's Polish community has links in the town going all the way back to the Second World War, when airmen from Poland were stationed at Great Dalby airfield during 1940.
By the war's end, Poland was under the control of the Soviet Union and many Poles became exiles. Rounded up by Communists, they were sent to other countries.
Some of these exiles, connected to the UK by their fellow countrymen, ended up in Melton
and were based at four camps, including ones on Swallowdale Road and Sandy Lane.
This influx meant that by about 1948, there were around 2,000 polish people living in Melton. In the period that followed, many emigrated to places like Canada, Australia and America.
Some stayed behind in Melton and married, but the Polish population was already starting to dwindle, although by 1963, the town had its first Polish club.
About three years later, the Polish Club in Sandy Lane was built. Originally intended as a church hall, it is become a centre for meetings and social events.
Many members of the Polish community began to work at Chappie's, the factory that would eventually become Masterfoods.
However, the dwindle continued, with the older generation dying out and the younger becoming British by birth or through marriage.
But in 2004, Poland was admitted into the European Union, and Polish citizens were allowed to come and work in the UK.
As in the 1940s, Polish natives arrived in Melton through family connections, and there are currently about 1,000 Poles living in the borough.
