Since the April edition of
the newsletter, WERS has received over £7,000 in
donations to the hardship fund – an excellent and
encouraging response!
During the last financial year over
£72,000 was given out from the fund so there remains an
urgent need for donations if we are to continue supporting
the many destitute clients who come to us for
help.
WERS AGM
Thursday 9 October at
7.30pm
The Annual General Meeting will be
held at Westgate Baptist Church. We very much hope that our
speaker this year will be Canon Nicholas Sagovsky who will
talk about his work with the Independent Asylum Commission
(IAC). The IAC has been conducting a nationwide review of
the UK asylum system and has now produced three reports of
conclusions and recommendations: Saving Sanctuary, Safe
Return and, the most recent, Deserving Dignity. Canon
Sagovsky is Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey and an
academic who has been passionately involved with the asylum
process in the UK. From 1997 to 2002 he was William Leech
Professorial Research Fellow in Applied Christian Theology,
Newcastle University and from 2000-2002 he chaired the WERS
Executive Committee. WERS will be delighted to welcome back
such a distinguished speaker and good friend. It will be a
fascinating evening and all are welcome to attend.
A buffet supper will be available from
7.30pm and the business meeting will begin at
8pm.
The Clothing Store remains
busy and we are grateful for all the many donations that
allow us to maintain the store at such a high standard. In
addition to our usual needs, we are particularly short of
new baby and younger men’s clothing, bedding, towels and
curtains. We regret that we are unable to accept bigger
pieces of furniture or any sort of electrical
items.
An exceptional
achievement!
WERS congratulates Evarist
Mbakem on gaining his Doctorate in Political, Economic and
Sustainable Development from Northumbria University. His
thesis is entitled, ‘Displacement, livelihoods and
sustainable development: contrasting modes in the
displacement of people of African descent in Brazzaville,
Republic of Congo and Newcastle upon Tyne’, a topic that
draw on his direct experience. Evarist came to the UK in
2001 as an asylum seeker and settled in Newcastle upon Tyne.
It has been a long, hard journey for Evarist and his family
and we are thrilled to hear of his success.
WERS has recently been
delighted to sign up as a client of FARESHARE, a nationwide
charity established to ‘redistribute surplus food from the
food industry to vulnerable people in the community.’
In doing so we are receiving a weekly
delivery of food, free of charge, which goes a long way to
making up the food parcels we give each week to destitute
clients. Our weekly deliveries will usually comprise tins of
soup, beans, spaghetti, packets of pasta, biscuits and
chocolate, bottled water, bread and occasionally fresh fruit
and vegetables.
These deliveries add greatly to the
food we already purchase and the many donations of food and
toiletries we regularly receive from WERS supporters,
allowing us to provide a nutritionally varied food parcel
with some treats included.
During Refugee Week, Your Homes
Newcastle raised awareness of the plight of destitute asylum
seekers by organising a collection of food and toiletries.
YHN staff were asked to bring donations to collection points
across the city. The food and toiletries were then delivered
to WERS and the East Area Asylum Seeker Support Group for
distribution to the many destitute clients supported by the
two organisations.
A similar collection was made by
Newcastle Primary Care Trust and Newcastle City Council
Education Welfare Department. WERS thanks all who
contributed in this venture and hopes there will be a repeat
performance next year!
As in previous years, the Refugee Week
stall in Northumberland Street provided passers-by with free
balloons, pens and the excellent Mythbuster leaflets
produced by the North East Strategic Migration Partnership.
The Mythbuster, now in its fifth edition, has proved a most
useful awareness-raising tool. WERS team members distribute
them at many venues when giving talks and presentations on
asylum issues.
