Donations in support of local refugees and asylum seekers.
First of all thank you to all who donated backgammon sets, phones, bikes, trainers, a kindle and a laptop.
Homes For Ukraine.
I have been contacted by a delightful Ukrainian young lady who was originally hosted in Corfe Mullen under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. (She now has two jobs and is living independently in Poole.) She is desperate to find a home for her mother and her younger sister. Do you know anyone who could help? Please pass this around and ask your friends if they know of anyone who might be able to help. She has already posted on the various Facebook pages etc. If anyone is interested, please just give me call. (And please don’t be put off by what you may have heard/seen on the media. We love our guests and feel that hosting under the H4U scheme is one of the best things we’ve done. Most of the other hosts we know feel much the same way.)

Refugee Week (19th to 25th June) this year has the theme of compassion. I think there is so much ignorance surrounding refugees and asylum seekers. Now even a former Conservative Party chair, Lady Warsi,  is worried that the Government’s policy towards them is a sign of a slide towards extremism!    https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2023/05/03/even-conservatives-are-worried-their-party-is-sliding-into-extremism/

Can we in our small way attempt to address this?
Illegal Migration bill.
This is a terrible piece of  legislation.
“The Bill is unfair, unlawful and excludes access to protection for many escaping persecution and conflict,” according to the Public Law Project.

https://publiclawproject.org.uk/resources/illegal-migration-bill-one-of-the-most-damaging-bills-in-living-memory/

Consider writing to your MP re the Bill if you have not already done so. It will soon be law but I still think MPs need to know that this cruel Bill is not acceptable. I’m hoping that the drubbing they have received in the local elections will give some of them pause for thought!

https://www.cbcew.org.uk/csan-statement-on-the-illegal-migration-bill/

If in your MP happens to respond I would be grateful if you could let me know what they say. The goverment talks about “safe routes”. At our Afghan Stories evening at St Mary’s, Poole, in March we learned from ICN that there are now extremely few to no ‘safe routes’, even for Afghans. A route that is inacessible to the people who need it is not a route let alone a safe one!
ICN campaign for mental health of refugees and asylum seeekers.
As you know, ICN (International Care Network) is our local Bournemouth- based Christian charity which  looks after asylum seekers and refugees in the conurbation.
ICN has been selected to participate in The Big Give’s Kind2Mind Campaign 2023! They have been awarded £5000 match funding. This means that any donations will be DOUBLED during the week of the 15th-22nd May. All donations will go straight to their Mental Health project, and if they hit their £5k target for the week, they’d receive £10,000 at the end, due to the match funding. This would enable them to immediately begin recruitment for a mental health professional to join their team.
As always, they are also looking for compassionate landlords willing to let property to refugees. (It is worth noting that while there would probably be a shortfall between a commercial let and the Housing Benefit refugees are entitled to, it is not likely to be huge.)