Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees newsletter

Winter Newsletter: Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees Welcome to this, the second newsletter from Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees. We plan to publish this newsletter every 3 months. Please share this with your contacts, and let us know if you have information or other material you'd like published in here. Contact us at: sevenoakswelcomesrefugees@gmail.com Contents In this newsletter you'll find: 1. Update on Swanley family 2. Update on Eynsford family 3. In other news: English language support plan, monthly socials update, and short report on full group meeting in December 4. Support required 5. Empathy Action: interactive refugee experience 6. Womens Craft Group 7. Donations 8. Next full group meeting 9. A request for your feedback 1. Update on Swanley family In mid-December a second Syrian refugee family arrived in the Sevenoaks area through the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme (SVPRS), this time from Turkey, and took up residence in Swanley. Their new home had been offered for use in the scheme by a very generous local couple to whom we all remain indebted. Prior to the arrival of the family SWR had been in close contact with the couple, with Sevenoaks District Council (SDC), with Centra (the company assigned to provide essential day-to-day support to the refugee family) and Churches Together in Swanley. We had succeeded in collecting all the items listed by Centra to make the new young family’s arrival most comfortable and were able to provide clothes, toys and a variety of household items from your donations. Following their long and no doubt stressful journey, the support worker who met the family of five from the airport - mother, father and three young children aged 5, 3 and a baby of 7 months - was happy to report that they were thrilled with their new home and that the children’s faces ‘lit up’ when they saw the toys! Indeed, we have witnessed their delight when we have visited. All family members in these few short weeks seem to have settled into their new and very different life very quickly; the 5-year old recently at the local primary school and the 3-year old will be starting 3 days a week in nursery soon. The parents do not speak English but are extremely keen to learn and so it will be a priority to ensure maximum efforts are afforded to enable progress in that area. Your support will continue to be important. We continue to look for language support teachers or those simply willing to give the parents practice by engaging in conversations in English. In addition, there will undoubtedly be requests for further donations as further needs are identified and for help with transportation. We have a special request for transportation for the family's sick child.  We need a DBS-certified driver (or drivers) willing to take the child and her father to regular monthly treatment sessions at a hospital in central London. They have to be there between 8 and 9 am, and the treatment takes until about 4 pm.   The next appointment is on January 24. Other transport possibilities have been explored unsuccessfully, hence this request to volunteers. If you are able to help in any of these areas please don’t hesitate to let us know. Beverley Hamadeh   2. Update on Eynsford family Since arriving in July, the family's focus has been on organising urgently required healthcare support, getting to know their new neighbours, arranging schooling for the children, exploring employment opportunities and working on learning English. Key priorities where we can help now are helping the family get out and about more, and providing more opportunities for English conversation. 3. In other news.... English language support: It's an obvious point but learning the local language is probably the most crucial factor in re-settling successfully in a new country. Being able to speak English is so important in helping the refugee families assimilate into the local society, and in time to get work so they have a sustainable future. We are planning a more structured approach to using volunteers to supplement the English language support that is provided as part of the scheme. SWR volunteer Alan MacNaughton is leading a quick review of how this should best be organised. We are looking for volunteers - both with and without ESOL experience - to help us arrange conversation sessions for the families to practice and improve their language skills. Please let us know if you can help. Social meetings update: The monthly socials organised by Tunbridge Wells Welcomes Refugees are a great way for refugee families from the area to get together, compare notes and enjoy themselves.  It’s a bit of a hike from Eynsford or Swanley to central Tunbridge Wells and we’re very grateful to the volunteer drivers who have enabled our families to get there.  The December event was well attended, with lots of food, games for the children, and dancing towards the end.  We were glad that in addition to the Eynsford family, the newly arrived Swanley family were keen to attend but it must have been quite confusing for them, driving off with strangers into the dark night only days after arriving in the country!  The next social is on the 27th January from 6:00 to 7.45, and we are looking for four cars so both families can attend so please let us know if you can help. Full group meeting in December: This was well attended, and comprised an update on activities and a social to celebrate what's been achieved and to thank everyone for their many and various contributions. Highlights of the meeting were an update from Rachael, the Centra care worker for the Eynsford family, and an opportunity to meet socially with members of the Eynsford family. The next full group meeting is on Wednesday 14 March, 7:30-9:00 pm at the Vine Evangelical Church, Hitchen Hatch Lane, Sevenoaks TN13 3AT. 4. Support required  There are plenty of practical things you can do to help. We need more people to help with the following tasks: Help with conversational English sessions, to help the refugees practice and improve their language skills Providing lifts to help the families in Eynsford and Swanley attend urgent hospital visits, attend the monthly socials in Tunbridge Wells and simply to get out and about more  We urgently need to find more landlords willing to rent their accommodation to Syrian refugees, funded by the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme. This is a programme of the UK government that aims to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and Turkey over the period from September 2015 to May 2020.  See SDC's Frequently Asked Questions for landlords here. We need people to help us arrange our next fundraising event. It will be in the spring, and will have a musical theme. Help selling an antique printers cabinet (good condition). This has been donated for us to sell, to generate funds. Can you help us persuade an auction house to sell this for us at minimal commission? We will be organising a gardening work party to help the Eynsford family with an allotment that needs a lot of work! Details to follow. 5.Empathy Action: interactive refugee experience  Tunbridge Wells-based charity Empathy Action is launching a live interactive experience about the refugee crisis on 27th January at Tonbridge Baptist Church.  In this experience, participants will have the chance to walk in the shoes of refugees for an hour.  The cast of 10 includes several members of Sevenoaks and Tonbridge Welcomes Refugees, and the action takes place in a specially-built set.  After the launch event the experience will be available to schools, companies and community groups - Sevenoaks School has already booked it for June. Contact chrisahix@gmail.com if you know of any school or group which might book the experience. 6. Women's Craft Group Empathy Action & Tonbridge Welcomes Refugees would love refugee women from Tonbridge and Sevenoaks areas to come along to a weekly women’s craft group. It will be held every Wednesday, 10:30am - 12 noon, at the Tonbridge School Community Hall, Manor Grove, Tonbridge, Kent, TN10 3DT. The first group starts on Wednesday 7th February 2018. It will be a great chance to get women together for coffee, practising English, and making crafts. No previous skills necessary - we’d just love your company. Onsite childcare is available for little ones. Please contact Sandy Glanfield of Empathy Action on 07941 222 174 or at sglanfield@empathyaction.org for more details. 7. Donations If you would like to set up a bank standing order to support the work of Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees, our bank details are as follows: sort code 09-01-29 account number 14272967. Thank you. 8. Next full group meeting of Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees: Wednesday 14 March   The next full group meeting is on Wednesday 14 March, 7:30 - 9:00 pm at the Vine Evangelical Church, Hitchen Hatch Lane, TN13 3AT Sevenoaks.  We hope to see you there! 9. Your feedback please Please let us have your feedback on this Newsletter, and all aspects of what we are doing (and not doing). Our e-mail address is: sevenoakswelcomesrefugees@gmail.com You can also contact us via our Facebook page - just search for Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees  Our mailing address is: sevenoakswelcomesrefugees@gmail.com