ANNUAL REPORT 2021
Back in the summer of 2015, a small group came together to discuss the refugee crisis making headlines as people fleeing Syria and many other countries made hazardous journeys across the Mediterranean into Europe. They picked up on the “Refugees Welcome” message and so Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees (CWR) was born. The initial aims were to promote public awareness of the international refugee crisis and to develop understanding of, and sympathy towards, all those affected by it. This quickly developed into also supporting Syrian refugee families being re-settled in Cheltenham.
By the summer of 2021, Cheltenham Welcomes Refugees had grown and developed to the extent that it needed to formally register as a charity. Our inaugural trustees are Sophie Wardell, Paul Baker, Simon Witcombe and (ex officio) the chair and secretary of the Core Group of volunteers. The original aims remain broadly the same – but now includes support for asylum seekers as well as refugees, particularly but not exclusively in Cheltenham. This support will seek to advance them in life and assist them to settle within a new community. We continue to see this as including our awareness-raising and educational work within the wider community.
Whilst charity registration is a significant step, the year has continued to be dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic which has impacted on our activities in many and varied ways.
The Government’s Resettlement Programme had gone on hold during lock-down but two more Syrian families have arrived since June bringing the total in Cheltenham to 36. Face to face activities with the families have been limited, with the Community Café (re-named the Welcome Café) not re-starting until October and then meeting again in December. No Summer Picnic was possible for the second year running but we were able to organise three woodland activity days for young people with the Ernest Cook Trust. However, an Awesome Women group started on Zoom and is now meeting fortnightly for a range of fun activities (including dance, Zumba and fitness classes provided by the Everyman Theatre). Forty tickets were also provided by the Everyman to experience the Christmas pantomime. Informal contact between volunteers and families continued throughout the year.
Asylum seekers continue to be placed in Cheltenham by the Home Office, with two new houses bringing an additional 13 people to the town and making a total of 6 properties and 29 people. We are also in touch with 4 other people staying with friends or family. The regular Monday morning drop-in (The Hub) returned to Zoom in January and March but has been meeting in person since then. We seek to meet practical needs but also have time to relax and have fun. One of the attendees has been in two amateur dramatic productions with enthusiastic supporters from The Hub in the audience. We have also taken advantage of free tickets for performances at the Everyman, the Playhouse and from Chapel Arts. Two of the asylum seekers we work most closely with have been given leave to remain. One has moved to be near relatives elsewhere, but the other is choosing to make his home in Cheltenham.
The Afghanistan crisis brought a tidal wave of concern and offers of support in August and September. Although Cheltenham Borough Council quickly offered to take families, progress on resettling the evacuated families has been slow and we are not yet in contact with any. However, the publicity did lead to a significant increase in Newsletter subscribers (273 in the year).
We continue to work closely with Cheltenham Volunteer Teachers (CVT), sharing many volunteers. Their work continues to allocate teachers to families, but CWR had worked with them to set up conversation classes for additional learning opportunities. These had gone online during the worst of the pandemic but restarted in person in September and added extra sessions, thanks to a venue offered by St Thomas More church. Separately, CWR has identified a teacher for some of the people seeking asylum and are looking to extend this provision. An appeal for children’s books from a specified wish list (under the auspices of International Book Giving Day and in collaboration with The Suffolk Anthology independent bookshop) brought in 50 books which were distributed through CVT teachers.
For both families and asylum seekers, work has continued from last year to ensure that people have adequate access to the internet through the provision of devices, Wi-Fi and mobile phone top-ups.
Although schools have, by and large, re-opened opportunities for assemblies and workshops have been very limited and this area of work is not currently a priority. However, other opportunities to raise awareness have been grasped. The series of online “Conversations” in association with the University of Gloucestershire Refugee Support Society continued as did the online Book Group. CWR participated in the Literature Festival’s Lit Crawl. The monthly Newsletter now has more than 600 subscribers and there is active social media engagement on Facebook (1,736 followers), Instagram (728 followers) and Twitter (203 followers). Following our involvement with Black Lives Matter last year, we remain linked to CARE (the Cheltenham Alliance for Race Equality).
The CWR Faith Group continued to develop links with local churches and other faith groups – raising awareness and encouraging involvement.
As we have grown, fund-raising has become more organised. A full financial Report is separately available but in the financial year October 2020 – September 2021, we raised £8,810, mainly through direct appeals for cash but including two cake stalls (thank you, Izzy and Margaret) and the “We Go Further Together” running fund-raiser. We estimate that we received the equivalent of another £7000 in donations in kind (free venues, laptops, books, and professional advice). Social media shout-outs for clothes, bikes, and household items always produce a response. Highnam Primary School provided Christmas gift boxes for asylum seekers and Southfields WI knitted blankets. The generosity and support of the people of Cheltenham continues to amaze us.
The list of those we work in partnership with continues to grow and strengthen. CVT has been mentioned. The Quakers have enabled us to carry on supporting the asylum seekers with generous access to their Meeting House. The Everyman Theatre have provided activities for The Hub, the Welcome Café and Awesome Women as well as providing pantomime tickets. We have close ties to the University (and especially the student Refugee Support Society). Although we have only just begun to use The Pavilion again for the Welcome Cafe, the 3C Church’s support has not wavered. St Thomas More church host the conversation classes. We have continued to build a working relationship with Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS), and through them with Cheltenham Borough Homes and the Borough Council. Whilst some of this was as a result of a disturbing assault on a refugee family, the discussions have a longer-term benefit. Food poverty also gained a higher public profile during the year with Feed Cheltenham ensuring better coordination of food provision through food banks and community pantries and we are now well linked in with this network. We have also joined the Housing and Support Forum and addressed VCS Cheltenham – slowly becoming part of the established voluntary and community sector locally.
And behind all this work and developments are an army of volunteers. Our volunteer list stands, notionally, at 140 but we know that many of these will have moved on whilst opportunities have been limited by Covid and are in the process of establishing those who remain active. The majority of the 38 people recruited this year (again, a significant number in response to the Afghan crisis) have been successfully engaged in a range of activities. Charity status has caused us to re-focus on good governance and this includes reviewing our policy framework and volunteer training and support. But we know that we have a wealth of enthusiasm, skills and experience to draw on. So we go into 2022 hopeful that the restrictions of Covid will continue to ease and we can extend our activities.
Charity No: 119525
www.cheltenhamwelcomesrefugees.org.uk
chelt.refugees@gmail.com
Photo credits:
Photos of Lit Crawl Event: @isabellussana (bottom first, second and last photos)
Photos of Woodland Activity Day and Syrian food: andypilsbury.com (top left and bottom third photo)