The Justice and Peace Refugee Project continues to welcome hundreds of people who use our services every month, with new clients registering each week from many places in the world. So your continued donations of food, toiletries and finance are very welcome. Most items that are donated by parishes and individuals are tins and packets of food and toiletries, all of which are very much needed. Items most urgently needed can be found here. In addition to these items, we also try to source fresh produce, which is gratefully received by clients. Recently, Sarah, our Deputy Project Co-ordinator, has successfully liaised with a local supermarket which is now providing the project with bread and pastries for clients on Wednesdays and Fridays.
In addition to providing clients with food and working with the SVP to help clients access good quality second hand clothing and household items, the project also provides a monthly supermarket voucher to those clients whose asylum claim has been refused, with no government support. Due to generous donations and grants received, the project was able to increase the amount of this voucher from £35 to £40 in April. Azad, our Project Co-ordinator is also working with agencies to further develop our ability to signpost clients to receiving legal advice and support. He and a volunteer have also attended a meeting to provide views to the Commission on Integration on the asylum system and what can be done to put integration at the heart of the government policy on refugees and asylum seekers. Views from clients were also contributed at this meeting.
The English lessons provided to clients by volunteers at the project are resulting in significant improvements to their language skills. A client from Afghanistan who has been attending lessons since they re-started last year recently expressed her gratitude to the project. She reported, ‘When I started attending classes, I was clueless. Over time, I have better English skills, where I can now write, read and communicate effectively’.
The project relies on the generous time given by our volunteers (there are just under 40) who fulfil a range of roles. We are currently short of volunteers on a Wednesday and would love to hear from people who might like to get involved and make a real difference to the lives of those who visit us. If you are interested, please contact our Project Co-ordinator, Azad.
As you may be aware, there are three Bank Holidays in May on Mondays 1, 8 and 29 May, so the project will not be open on these days for deliveries. However, we will be available to receive deliveries on Fridays during these weeks should you wish to bring donations in.
We are thankful for and continue to rely on your generous financial support for our work. Details of our bank account (DHN Justice and Peace Refugee Project) can be found on our webpage. If your donation is by cheque please send this to St Vincent’s Centre, New Bridge Street, Newcastle NE1 2TQ for the attention of Azad Hasan. Please remember to include a contact name and address when sending in a financial donation to the centre, to ensure that we can acknowledge safe receipt of the funds you have kindly donated or if we need to get in touch. Please consider Gift-Aiding, a Gift Aid Declaration form is available here or you can request one from marjory.knowles@gmail.com or 07929 343418.
For more details about our work and how you can assist, please contact Azad Hasan, Project Co-ordinator at azad.hasan@diocesehn.org.uk or 07407 091184 or visit our webpage which also gives details on how you can make financial donations.
