Background
Peter Fahy, Trustee of Father Hudson’s Caritas, chaired a meeting of the new Refugee support group. The group came from the Becoming a Welcoming Church initiative that launched last year and is also linked to a wider initiative to strengthen Catholic Social Action in the Diocese and the bringing together of Caritas and Father Hudson’s.
Updates
Brushstrokes Community Project
Dave Newell, the Project Manager of Brushstrokes, gave a brief update from the National Catholic Migration Forum. Welcome the Stranger materials are being produced by the Bishops Conference for parishes and the Government is launching a new community sponsorship scheme for Afghan refugees. Jo Watters will be attending a meeting on this. We still have concerns about the Rwanda Bill which is going through Parliament.
At Brushstrokes there continues to be increasing demand. The main challenge is accommodation for asylum seekers who have had a positive decision from the Home Office but then have to leave the hotels to fend for themselves.
St Chad’s Sanctuary
Abi Martin from The Sanctuary in Birmingham, said they are seeing the same thing as well as a great need for men’s clothing and for food. There is a lack of ESOL courses and great difficulty in getting legal advice. They are also seeing more cases of children who have been classed by the Home Office as adults.
Summary
Peter summarised that one of the key issues is the lack of rented of accommodation and what is available is way above housing benefit level. Any new scheme for Afghans would have to overcome this problem. Local councils are overwhelmed with requests for housing and understandably are prioritising families.
Clare from the SVP highlighted that local SVP groups often are supporting refugee families through local referrals and can access furniture for example.
Dave and Abi outlined how local groups can support people seeking asylum living in the hotels contracted by the Home Office where the need was often friendship and advice on the local area, leisure and sports opportunities and ESOL.
Actions
Events
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking awareness
Want to know more about modern slavery and Human Trafficking?
Join an awareness session in April hosted by the Medaille Trust and Father Hudson’s Caritas. During the session we will explore the different types of modern slavery, some of the signs to look out for, the prevalence and what you can do to support survivors, as well as having the chance to ask any questions.
The sessions are:
Wednesday 17 April, 7pm until 9pm, St Anne’s Parish Rooms, St Anne’s, Digbeth, B12 OPB.
Thursday 18 April, 11am until 1pm, St Catherine of Siena, Bristol Street, Birmingham, B5 7BE.
Please confirm your free place with K.moreton@medaille-trust.org.uk
Modern Slavery Awareness session
Wednesday 22nd May 2.30-4pm
Free online session designed for faith leaders and community members across the faith sector.
Church of Sanctuary Conference
Recent refugee news
Last week The Commission on the Integration of Refugees published their final report which can be found on their website. It essentially puts forward the economic argument for refugees to be allowed to work and for greater support in learning English.
Echoing Dave Newall’s comments above The Guardian reported that the numbers of asylum seekers left homeless after Home Office eviction soars