AUTUMN NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2022
Autumn is well-advanced and the colours of the trees and shrubs are especially vibrant this year after the hot summer drought. One morning we had a walking Conversation session around Vivary Park followed by refreshments in the Coffee Station. Whilst walking we came across a Persian Ironwood Tree, known in Latin as Parrotia persica, which is renowned for its incredible orange-red leaves. We talked about the tree and this led on to a happy discussion about Persian gardens with an asylum seeker from that region. And that led on to historic Persian cities with Roman antiquities, and then on to food, and as he put it succinctly “Everything in Iran is wonderful, but the politics is not”. How true. News reports are getting worse and worse.
In neighbouring Afghanistan the news is no better. If you subscribe to Netflix you can watch a film about Zarifa Ghafari, who at 26 became one of Afghanistan’s first female mayors and the youngest to ever hold the position. Filmed over two turbulent years the film documents her fight for survival against the backdrop of her country’s accelerated unravelling. In Her Hands will be available to watch from 16 November.
On a more local note, this summer we had the opportunity to take our families on an overnight trip to Kilve Outdoor Activity Centre. Around 65 people and a group of volunteers settled into the facilities. The children greatly enjoyed many activities including the climbing wall, grass-sledging, pond-dipping and archery aided by the lovely and professional staff of Kilve. Despite the fierce heat we all had a great time catching up and socialising, sharing food and endless cups of tea. Many thanks to our guests for providing such wonderful food, to the volunteers for giving their time and to the staff of the Kilve Centre.
In our Summer Newsletter we mentioned that one of the gaps in the local response to all the evacuees from Ukraine to West Somerset was an under-provision of English Lessons due to the large numbers of people arriving in such a short time. We did something about this. Firstly, we employed a Ukrainian English teacher who is currently living locally. Katya has proved herself such a capable teacher and our trial run of 6 lessons in July has blossomed into a full term of teaching this autumn. Her classes are well-attended, she sets homework and expects her students to keep up. Everyone seems to be very motivated. Lots of coffee and biscuits fuel the studies and as usual the opportunity to meet with other people facing the same difficulties as themselves is as useful as the learning itself. We are very grateful to Katya for her dedication and reliability and we very much hope to continue with these lessons in the New Year. Certainly, there are more students wanting to join the classes so we will make space for new Beginners in January. Having got this project up and running, we looked around for financial support and are happy to report that Somerset Supports Ukraine has seen what we do and has very kindly financed our first term. Thank you for believing in our work. Approximately 24 people are benefitting from these lessons which we offer twice a week – critical for the successful learning of a language.
‘I also want to join and express my gratitude to everyone involved in the opening of the course and the opportunity to study English in such a beautiful place with such wonderful people. Thank you very much for your help and support – this is very valuable and important for people who find themselves in a situation when you have to start your life from scratch in a new country. Thank you very much.’ Inna K
TWR’s work continues to expand. We react to situations and but also attempt to predict where we might be able to provide help and support in the near future. This is not an easy task. One area of increasing importance is volunteering with asylum seekers. Befriending asylum seekers is different from our befriending model for settled refugees.
Asylum seekers come from various countries, ethnic groups, and faiths. They have often fled their countries of origin for fears of persecution. Many are survivors of torture, have witnessed atrocities and faced difficult journeys to arrive in the UK. As a result, they often have experiences of trauma. They have often left their families, friends and belongings behind and do not have any family support in the UK. Asylum seekers are often young men, rather than families, and are placed across the UK according to housing availability.
Whilst in the UK, asylum seekers receive asylum accommodation and a small living allowance paid weekly onto a card, this is called an ASPEN card. They can use this card in any shop and to withdraw cash. Any issues with their accommodation are dealt with by the Housing Company, any other issues regarding their asylum claim are directed to Migrant Help or their solicitor. They are housed with other asylum seekers, but we cannot assume that just because they are living together, they will be friends. We have found that they are often friends, but their experiences mean that they are guarded, even with each other.
Asylum seekers are often lonely, afraid and unsure about their futures. It is important to keep them busy; our Coffee and Conversation is a great distraction for them and a chance to learn English as well as a social opportunity. A major problem is boredom whilst waiting for uncertain periods of time for decisions about their asylum claim. If you have watched the film ‘Limbo’ you will have an understanding about this already.
Small people need toys. One of the joyous things about these English Conversation sessions is watching the babies grow up. The council-run lessons do not allow pre-school children into the classroom, but at Conversation they and their mothers are very much encouraged to come along. This has turned out to be a really positive aspect of the project – that mothers, who otherwise have very little reason to get out of the house during the week, now have at least one or two mornings when they have something to look forward to. At the beginning the children were shy around each other but things settle down and they end up playing happily together. An interesting change in their demeanour occurs when they start at nursery at around the age of 2 ½ – all of a sudden it is fun to tidy up! The look of pleasure on their little faces when they bring over the packed-up bag of toys is a delight. Some families have had new babies this year and as soon as the mother is ready, they reappear with their newborns snuggled up in a pram to much admiration all around. And it’s a pleasure for the asylum seekers, who are without any family, to be able to interact with the little children. TWR has been collecting baby items to help families prepare for their new arrivals all of which were gratefully received. But we would like to have a few different toys and first books for the small children at Conversation. After a year of use, our original collection of second-hand stuff is getting quite ragged. Please send an email to Esther if you have anything you would like to donate – .
TWR also offered support for Hosts of Ukrainian Guests over the last three or four months. We have met with those who have invited Ukrainians into their homes, to help them both with the plans and the reality of their offers. This has taken the form of an evening meeting with a presentation on a relevant topic (such as Ukrainian culture) followed by informal sharing of experiences and ideas.
Chris Martens, our Ukrainian Project Leader, and several others involved have had to step down. Our thanks go to Chris for his work over the last few months, in furthering this area of our work, and we wish him well for the future. This coincides with many hosts also stepping down from their hosting roles. Nearly all of the Ukrainians who are currently with us will now face the prospect of having to find alternative accommodation in the next 6 to 12 months, as the arrangements with their hosts come to an end. This is a very worrying time for them and we receive various requests for help with accommodation, and also with the costs of setting up a new home. As a charity we do not have the resources to help in any realistic way with either of these issues, but we have been working hard to signpost people to agencies who might be able to help.
The newly opened Hub run by Charis, in Hammet Street, is already very busy and offering a very wide range of services. Their website has all of these listed. Practical help with employment, NHS and housing; mindful help such as the Friday morning Painting Class which is open to anyone to drop in and have a little go under the guidance art teachers including Kurdish designer, Safa. Read about her again later as she has designed a colourful Christmas card for us this year.
We also supported Temple Methodist Church in their two ‘family afternoons’ for Ukrainians during the summer holidays. We organised the invitations and advertising, and a good time was had by about 16 families on each occasion with music, games and crafts. The second day was on Ukrainian Independance Day (26 August) and so Ukrainian music was the order of the day, including the national anthem, plus wonderful Ukrainian food brought by some of the families.
Closely related, we have been monitoring the possible effect of the cost-of-living crisis on all of those we support. We have been sharing with the Resettlement Team (who work with budgeting issues for the Syrian and Afghan families among us) and we are trying to make sure that they have the appropriate information and support.
Fundraising comes in various guises. We would like to thank the ladies’ choir ‘Let’s Sing’ that raised well over £700 to help us support Ukrainian refugees and Hannah Banfield for organising a village tea party in September and raising over £500 for our charity. Also Stoke St Gregory Parish made a welcome donation and all those many individuals who have enabled us to carry on providing a safe and welcoming place. We ourselves will be selling TWR Charity Christmas Cards again this year. We are busy finalising the details and will be sending out another email with the choices soon. Thank you for all your support last year. We are very aware that the cost of postage has gone up, there is a general rise in the cost of living and yet we hope that there will be a good response to our cards again.
At English Conversation & Coffee we are working on another project gathering recipes from across the Middle East, as cooked by the refugees and asylum seekers. We know how delicious their food can be having tasted it on many occasions. The idea is to select 12 dishes to form a calendar with one recipe printed for each month. This is a larger and more complicated project than first anticipated and we may, or may not, cross the finishing line in time to get them out for Christmas sales this year! Either way it has been enlightening to talk about food in detail and to discuss the various regional differences in making lamb koftas – turmeric anyone? – or falafels. Just as we all have our own recipes for mince pies or Shepherd’s pie so the Palestinian kofta differs from the Afghan version. It causes much merriment to be involved in these discussions as you can imagine.
As always if you are considering volunteering with TWR please do get in touch via . Esther is always pleased to hear from new people.
In January of this year we were preparing for families and individuals to be arriving from northern Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan, or Hong Kong. Since February all of that changed, and we have welcomed (as a community) an unprecedented number of Ukrainians instead. So yet again we have had to modify our ways of working, and that means tweaking (and, in some parts, completely re-writing) our preparation courses. Of thirteen courses delivered in three years only three have remained the same! So, as we write, we are offering a slightly shorter basic course for all volunteers, which will then be followed by an additional tailor-made element depending on the roles which people take up. At the same time, we are encouraging existing volunteers to join in as a refresher, especially as our new focus is on becoming ‘Trauma Aware’. So, we look forward to welcoming new volunteers into role – and for us all to be ‘upgraded’ in the skills and knowledge we need for this work. Our thanks go especially to Raawiyah, Katrina and Sandra for their excellent work in this area.
Thank you for reading to the end. We have just got this letter out to you whilst Autumn winds up and November leads us into Winter. Time continues to fly by.