Herts Welcomes Refugees 2024 AGM Agenda.
The AGM will be held on Tuesday 16th April at the Verso Vineyard Church in St Albans. The formal meeting commences at 7:30pm with drinks and food served from 6:30pm. If you are planning to attend the AGM, please ensure you register if you have not already done so: https://bit.ly/hwragm24
January 2024 update
2023 was a busy year for us all but our wonderful volunteers rise to every challenge with energy and compassion. Locally we have been involved in supporting three asylum seeker hotels in some capacity. At Stevenage we have worked with local churches to provide clothing and shoes for the residents and we had some fantastic donations from local supporters of warm coats for adults which all found homes at the most recent clothing distribution in November. We also managed to give a Christmas box of goodies to all the children in the hotel, again thanks to the generosity of local people.
In the Hitchin hotel we have mainly been involved in activities for the children, running a weekly homework club and other activities over the summer, including an outing to a local park for games and snacks. It has been lovely to see the children growing in confidence and participating in more complex activities as their language develops. Before Christmas we ran some craft activities . More recently another volunteer has started a conversation group with some of the women in the hotel. She has used food and cooking as a means of learning the language and sharing common experiences and this has proved very successful.
At the other North Herts hotel which opened in the summer, one volunteer has set up a conversation group for adults which is proving popular and we would like to be able to recruit more volunteers to run some after school activities for the children. If you or anyone you know could offer an hour a week, please ask them to get in touch.
Of course, we are still supporting the resettled families although many of the Syrian families have now been here for several years and are coping largely independently. Some are even British citizens now and acquiring passports with the hope of visiting family members whom they haven’t seen for several years. In many cases, they continue to receive support from volunteers who have now worked with them over a number of years and formed lasting friendships. Four new Afghan families have recently moved in locally. They have been in a bridging hotel for some time, waiting for suitable accommodation, so generally they are already familiar with how the various systems work and usually have a good command of English. We hope to arrange a welcome event for them to meet the other local Afghan families when they are more settled.
You may have read that the government has speeded up the asylum process in an attempt to reduce the backlog of claims. Although this is a positive move in ending the uncertainty for people in the process, it has sadly resulted in an increase in homelessness as people who have been given leave to remain in the UK are evicted from Home Office accommodation and often struggle to find housing. Refugees at Home is a charity which organise short and long-term stays in people’s homes for refugees and the. If you might consider being a host you can find the details at Refugees at Home
April 2023 update
Earlier this month, a baby boy arrived to one of the Syrian families in Letchworth and mother and baby are both doing well. This has been the cause of great excitement for his two older brothers but I think there will be a measure of relief for the mother when school starts again next week. This family has also had another new beginning as the husband has recently succeeded in opening his own barber shop in Hitchin, a dream he has cherished since first arriving here four years ago. So far, business has been slow but steady so he is full of hope for the future.
It was lovely to welcome another Afghan family in Letchworth in January. They had been in a bridging hotel since the evacuation of Kabul and while there, their third little boy was born. As he arrived after they had been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain, his mother introduced him as her ‘English baby’. Meanwhile some of the first families to arrive under the re-settlement schemes are now applying for citizenship, having been here for six years. Not only does this demonstrate a commitment to the country but it will also make travel easier and open up the possibility of meeting up with family members whom they may not have seen for many years.
In February, some of the Syrian women arranged a welcome event for the Syrian family who had arrived in December. They galvanised the other families and a huge spread of food appeared which everyone enjoyed including the HWR volunteers who were helping out although we were hardly needed as the women had everything well organised. This time we used the Mrs Howard Hall in Letchworth which was an ideal venue with safe access to the playground nearby.
Our volunteers continue to be involved in the asylum seeker hotel in Stevenage and also at the one which has opened in Hitchin. In both cases we are mainly concentrating on supporting the children’s learning. In both towns the support from faith groups and other community groups has been fantastic in providing for the many needs of the residents. I hope to be able to tell you more about this work next time.
Some of you may have seen the clip of one of the local Afghan women speaking at an International Women’s Day event in Stevenage in March. She spoke very movingly about the plight of Afghan women and girls and was happy for HWR to post the footage on Facebook and Instagram where it got a high level of engagement. Her closing words were Let’s stand with Afghan women from this moment and from this second and put pressure wherever we may have some influence so that we can return air, breath and life to Afghan women and let Afghan girls get an education and enjoy their human rights like other women in the world.
I don’t think anyone in the audience of 100 or so was unmoved by her words, which were all the more impressive for being spoken in a second language.
With all good wishes and heartfelt thanks for your continuing interest and support
Veronica Raymond
Herts Welcomes Refugees North Herts
January 2023 update
Since my last newsletter, two baby boys have arrived safely to join two Afghan families in Letchworth much to the delight of their parents and their older siblings. In one family, the older ones rush home from school in order to be the first to play with their young brother!
Thanks to the sponsorship of a local business we were able to give vouchers to the local families for them to choose presents for their children over the festive period and as previously Letchworth Foodbank gave generous supermarket vouchers to the refugee families in North Herts.
We held another gathering for the local Afghan families in November thanks to the hospitality of the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Stevenage. Once again members of the church laid on a variety of activities for the children and space for their parents to mingle and chat. We were also joined on that occasion by some of the Afghan families re-settled in Hatfield where they are more isolated.
In December in the middle of the snowy period, a ninth Syrian family arrived in Letchworth. At first, they seemed in a state of shock but were soon welcomed and embraced by the other local Syrian families both with practical help – getting the right SIM card etc and emotional support. I hope it was encouraging and reassuring to the newcomers to see the more established families making lives for themselves here in this totally different environment. Both adults and children are now starting to learn some English with two enthusiastic new volunteers which is the gateway to making the most of opportunities here.
Over the last couple of months, our support at the asylum seeker hotel in Stevenage has moved forward. The local churches have done a magnificent job of coordinating the supply of donated clothing and other goods to the residents and we helped out at one of the clothing distribution sessions. Fortunately, there were plenty of warm coats which were in great demand. People who had arrived only recently in the country came with very few belongings. It is now felt that most people have the basics they need for the moment so regular distributions have paused but individual requests will be met. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our supporters we were able to take Christmas boxes to the hotel to the delight of adults and children. We have also been busy recruiting volunteers to teach English and hope shortly to start regular sessions. As many of the children have not yet got school places, our aim is to start with them.
As always our continuing work with refugees and asylum seekers in Hertfordshire relies on the generosity of our supporters and the boundless commitment and enthusiasm of our volunteers. Your compassion and sensitivity is inspiring amidst all the negative rhetoric about refugees so a heartfelt thanks to you all.
Message from Veronica Raymond on behalf of Hertfordshire Welcomes Refugees
Herts Welcomes Refugees has been overwhelmed by the support recently given to our appeal for Afghan refugees. Many faith groups, other groups and individuals have been very generous and this fund has enabled us to continue working with the refugees in temporary accommodation in the three hotels in Hertfordshire. We are particularly involved in the hotel in Dacorum where we have a service agreement with the county council to provide support. A team of volunteers means that there is a presence there every day to respond to needs and coordinate activities arranged in partnership with other organisations. Family learning sessions have also started, focusing primarily on English. It seems that many families will be there till at least Christmas as local authorities across the country arrange suitable accommodation. We are expecting between 20 and 25 families to be re-settled in Hertfordshire and locally, Stevenage have offered to take three families and North Herts two, whom we look forward to welcoming in due course, hopefully before the end of the year.
The Syrian families already settled here are all doing well and when adversity such as illness strikes have a supportive network to draw on. A new ESOL course has started at the Hitchin branch of North Herts College aimed at those who have not made yet great progress with English and that seems to be going well. Several individuals have said how much they like the teacher who allegedly threatens to send anyone speaking Arabic out of the room. Other more advanced learners are studying at the appropriate level in Stevenage and of course many are supported by our wonderful volunteers who continue to offer opportunities to practise English and improve their language. Sarah is continuing with her conversation lessons for the women in Letchworth and Hitchin and recently two volunteers in Stevenage have started informal conversation practice sessions for the local women, several of whom are unable to attend college because of childcare commitments. The men’s group in Letchworth is also running.
Recently the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Stevenage organised a wonderful activity afternoon for the refugee families from Stevenage, North Herts, Hatfield and Ware. There were games for children and adults, craft activities for children, a wildlife presentation and a magic show as well as refreshments. The church had teams of willing and friendly volunteers and it appeared everyone, young and old, had a great time.
If you are not yet a member of Herts Welcomes Refugees, you can sign up via our website: https://www.hwsf.org.uk/get-involved.html
We will continue to update you and as always appreciate your support.
Veronica Raymond
Herts Welcomes Refugees North Herts