SUMMER NEWSLETTER
JULY 2023
Is it July already? Goodness. At last the noisy machines have finished resurfacing the Crescent car park next to the Quaker Meeting House. Just in time for a long spell of glorious sunny weather so that our Conversations can spill out into the garden and chairs can be placed in quiet shady spots. Yes, it has been that hot!
We have been joined on Tuesday and Thursday mornings by some of the more adventurous asylum seekers from Bridgwater. It shows great promise that they can find the energy to get up, catch the bus and come to improve their English language with us. Many can’t. We don’t meet the numerous people who are struggling to keep their spirits up and barely leave their rooms. But those that do come are really trying to make the best of the situation whilst they await their next interview.
We have been joined on Tuesday and Thursday mornings by some of the more adventurous asylum seekers from Bridgwater. It shows great promise that they can find the energy to get up, catch the bus and come to improve their English language with us. Many can’t. We don’t meet the numerous people who are struggling to keep their spirits up and barely leave their rooms. But those that do come are really trying to make the best of the situation whilst they await their next interview.
Among the asylum seekers we are supporting there is a group of who are knitting and crocheting to keep themselves occupied. We have also given some donated sewing machines to some talented dressmakers who have produced some beautiful clothing. We are always looking for donations of knitting wool, fabric and threads, buttons and zips etc. Please send Esther an email if you have something to offer.
TWR continues to hold Coffee mornings in North Petherton where people can gather and relax together whilst learning
Whilst referring asylum seekers, we should consider what is happening politically with the asylum system. Lynne writes,
Illegal Migration Bill 7th March 2023
TWR has consistently challenged the new asylum legislation at each stage of its progression through Parliament. In addition, on 29th April we submitted an email direct to the Home Office expressing deep concern about the emotive language often being used by the Home Office team in promoting the new Illegal Migration Bill. (Copies of our correspondence and replies a can be found on our website should you wish to read them). In that email we challenged both the indiscriminate use of the words ‘illegal migration/immigration’ and other potentially inflammatory language about the relative numbers of people arriving by boat. Many international asylum lawyers and the UNHCR all challenge the UK governments’ interpretation of the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights. While 46,000 migrants arrived on UK shores in 2022, the 200,000 plus individuals welcomed on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme in 15 months have not been described as threatening services nor had received such a hostile welcome from the Home Office. We asked for a more considered and accurate use of language from those who represent us, and more equitable treatment of those in need.
Recently it was REFUGEE WEEK. As one UNHCR tweet read A refugee is like a seed, given the right conditions they will develop into something wonderful.
TWR held a day of celebrations at the Museum of Somerset. It was a joyous occasion with a lot of music, dancing and laughter. Various communities took to the floor and let their hair down. There was Kurdish dancing, Iranian dancing and African dancing. Some good connections were made between the refugee creative community. We foresee more musical collaborations in the future. It was all organised by Esther, Raawiyah and Hannah, and as Esther wrote “I feel that everyone had a really fun day. We made a lot of new connections, learned some lessons and brought a lot of joy to people who don’t have a lot of that in their lives. Well done us!” Yes, well done all of you. And many thanks to the Museum who said they would happily host us again.
Back in November, when the Red Dress was displayed for us, Monir, an Iranian lady, asked if she could embroider something representative on one of the panels. It was a bigger task than she appreciated, but with much hard work and skill, this is what she created. The words she chose were WOMEN, LIVE, FREEDOM. And this meant ‘as an Iranian she is fighting against the dictator regime for freedom and equality for the people of Iran’. Since then the panel has been incorporated into the back of the dress and here it is being displayed in America recently.
We have been marking the various religious dates that are celebrated by the people we meet each week. Back in March was Norooz – the start of Spring which is the biggest festival in Iran and Afghanistan and other countries in that region. The first day is the Spring Equinox when the earth finishes its orbit around the sun. The table is set with the “7 S’s” – items that begin with S in Farsi – and include eggs, garlic, coins, flowers, sumac, apples, a mirror, vinegar and new shoots of a grain. The 13-day festival ends on Sizdah-be-dar when everyone leaves their houses and gathers for family picnics, paying respects to their elders and giving presents to the young ones.
That seems like a proper way to welcome the start of a new growing season. Our traditional Lady Day, on 25th March, marked the vernal equinox and the start of the new year – it actually was our New Year’s Day between 1190-1751 – a fact I never appreciated and nor did I realise that the Gregorian calendar was only adopted in 1752, when NYD reverted to the Roman new year of 1st January, and wasn’t like that since they were ruling here! You probably all knew that.
Now it is the ‘big’ Eid, Eid-al-Adhr – 13 days in honour of the Prophet Ibrahim who sacrificied his son for God. We won’t see many Muslims at Conversation this week as everyone is at home marking this important celebration.
The TWR calendar recipes for May, June, July and August feature salads and falafels from Syria and biscuits from Iran. And now is the perfect moment to attempt cooking Yalanji whilst there are plenty of vine leaves to harvest.
Using some of the money granted to us by Hinkley Point Community Fund we have invested in a variety of English language teaching books which we use during Conversation sessions as and when it is useful. We are also operating a ‘lending library’ so that anyone can take a book away with them to continue reading during the week. The series of books by Shannon Press is particularly interesting- it was developed for prisoners where a literate inmate can help an illiterate inmate to learn to read. These short books are perfect at introducing everyday language and we are finding them very helpful.
There is much work going on behind the scenes trying to secure grant funding to keep our TWR projects running. We don’t have any regular grant assistance, and we keep having new ideas of how to improve lives and well-being of the people we meet, so we always need to chase the money to keep the charity afloat. Whilst asking for testimonials from people about why they like to volunteer at Conversation and what keeps them coming back week after week we received many positive words, including these excerpts
“Volunteering with TWR has become an important part of my life in retirement….it has enriched my life, given me a sense of purpose and introduced me to a wonderful variety of people.”
“Spending time with the people who come to TWR opens up the world. I get to learn about countries, languages, cultures and customs, food and festivals.”
“I have been so surprised by what I have learnt from TWR Conversations – an insight into other cultures from personal perspectives, skills of focussing on others, empathy, skills to try to make others feel at ease and to overcome communication barriers.”
“To learn to speak in another language will improve confidence. I like to think that I can contribute to this in a small way, although I sometimes feel that I get more from our times together than I give! What I had not foreseen was how much I would enjoy our sessions for their relaxed friendliness among both visitors and other volunteers. I love coming!”
We always welcome new volunteers so if you feel like joining in, please do send an email to esther@
Stop Press! Last Chance to Book!
It is still not too late to enrol for our next Preparation Course if you would like either to become a volunteer or become more informed about the issues around supporting asylum seekers and refugees. It will be on Saturdays 8th and 15th July at the Quaker Meeting House in Taunton, 10 until 4 pm (lunch provided). Please email Lynne at lynne@
This is a short account by a man from Sudan, written with help from a volunteer at Conversation one morning
I was riding my bicycle on the road in Bridgwater. Suddenly a car stopped in front of me. I swerved to the left to miss the car but hit the wall. I fell off the bike and the bike fell on me. I hurt my knee and hip. I don’t remember everything that happened. Some people came to help me and an ambulance took me to hospital. I stayed in hospital for one week, then Esther visited me. Now I feel better.
(Now we know why he had to stay in so long – there was a hold up regarding the use of the scanner….)
Our Ukrainian English Lessons continue to run smoothly with good attendance levels and keen, motivated students. Our thanks go once more to Somerset Supports Ukraine for their continued financial support towards this vital project. We are now looking for funding to take these lessons into a second academic year in September. Sadly, with little sign of the conflict ending, this project needs to continue.
We have had several recommendations of good reads around our subject from our volunteers including
- The Death of Murat Idrissi by Tommy Wieringa
- Silence is a Sense by Layla Alammar
- Them by Sarfraz Mansoor
You can watch a nice clip about the Maqbul project to help support displaced people in Somerset
This flaming June has not been kind to us vegetable growers, but this is a reminder to anyone who has a garden that you will be able to enter some classes at our Summer Picnic and Produce Show. Please nurture something that you will be proud to bring to the day! The Invitation with the date and other details will be sent out to all our volunteers shortly.
Money has been donated anonymously towards our Refugee Week celebrations. Thank you. And one of our Trustees had a group from the Somerset Cottage Garden Society to visit their garden and raised £280.00 for us.
To finish, there was an interesting cross-cultural exchange one Thursday. The topic of the Weekend came up and we were surprised to discover the various Weekends that exist in other parts of the world. Our Saturday and Sunday, is Friday and Saturday in the Arabic world, unless you come from Sudan where you only get Friday. In Iran, on the other hand, you get Thursday after midday and Friday. This email will have arrived in your inbox on a Monday, which I think we can all agree on being a Weekday!
Thanks for reading to the end, and for your continued support for Taunton Welcomes Refugees.