MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIR & CEO
We prepared this edition of the Newsletter before the summer holiday season thinking the only thing left to do was distribute once the holidays were over. However, we could not go to print without referencing the ugly and distressing riots that erupted in recent weeks. Many in our community will be feeling the impact of these events and we stand together committed to working hard to unite our community and build a safe and welcoming environment for those arriving here seeking sanctuary. Thankfully the families we support were not directly impacted but inevitably will be deeply shaken and we are grateful to our volunteer teams for the care and dedication with which they carry out their work.
Looking back to earlier in the year it seems the expression “business as normal” never seems to apply to RRN and there are many examples illustrating just how varied and dynamic things can be within a small charity. A notable and recent highlight is RRN’s successful bid for a significant three-year award from The National Lottery Community Fund. This award has been granted so that RRN can deepen its engagement and expand its work with a weekly evening drop-in centre in Portsmouth for unaccompanied minors. This is an extension of the South Downs Youth Discovery Project that has been running since late 2021 and is a reflection of the success of that project. This is a huge development for RRN and the team is working extremely hard to bring everything together for the project to start in September. It is also a validation of the professionalism and efficacy for which RRN is increasingly known for. For more information here is our press release announcing this news: https://www.
Another recent highlight is the Art Sale that RRN held in conjunction with Bedales School. Once again Bedales proved to be an invaluable supportive partner to RRN by providing an impressive venue, publicity and a team of enthusiastic members of staff and volunteers who ensured the success of the event. Despite it being a particularly bleak, wet Monday night in March, within just a few hours, close to twenty-five thousand pounds worth of art was sold. Many guests went home that night with a piece of artwork to treasure and everyone, we hope, went home with a better understanding of the work that RRN does and the impact it has.
Alongside these developments RRN has continued to deliver on its core projects. We recently welcomed a family from Afghanistan into a new property in East Hampshire and are extremely grateful to the landlord of this property for making this possible. There are two other new families from Afghanistan that we have also started assisting in recent months; one is a doctor to whom we are providing employment support and the other is being provided with English language support. RRN was able to continue delivering ESOL classes for a group of Ukrainian refugees in Havant and in Petersfield thanks to grants from both Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council. The classes have been acknowledged to be both popular and effective. For more information please see an evaluation report posted on the website, or follow the link: https://www.
We were also pleased to be able to provide first aid training for Ukrainian refugees in Havant and in Petersfield by working in partnership with Community First.
Jenny Cuffe, a trustee of Action for Child Trauma International (ACT) came along with Toria Burch who has developed new materials to help local communities and organisations address the high levels of anxiety often experienced by refugees, and simple mental health ‘first aid’ materials for use after conflict or disaster. ACT specialise in teaching the Children’s Accelerated Trauma Technique (CATT), an effective trauma treatment for children and young people. Our small group of volunteers, RRN trustees, educators, refugees and local authority came together to hear more about the trauma faced by refugees and were given really simple but effective exercises that were creative but also therapeutic. These exercises are created especially for those working closely with traumatised children to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but can be effective helping adults suffering as well.
In this edition of our Newsletter we wanted to paint a picture of the many pieces of the human jigsaw that makes up RRN. We concluded that we should ask for contributions from a number of individuals from within our organisation and which we have printed below. We think these pieces give a good illustration of how RRN operates and how the different individuals work in conjunction with one another to such good effect, thus creating a perfect example of how the whole can be more than the sum of its parts and hopefully how we get to a place where unity is a secure feature of our community.
Best wishes
Anne & Nadia
VOLUNTEER CONTRIBUTION
Sabina Rashkovska has been supporting Hilary Wright in ESOL classes for Ukrainian students and she has written this piece outlining her experience. It is clear that both she and the students have gained so much from her input and involvement in these classes.
I am a Ukrainian ESOL Teacher under Home for Ukraine Scheme. I have been working for RRN since October 2023. My role is an ESOL Teacher Assistant along with Hilary Wright, the Teacher. In addition, I have been involved as an interpreter.
As for my responsibilities as a Teacher Assistant, I have been providing different kinds of support for Ukrainians of the lowest level of English during the ESOL classes in Havant. Another thing which I have been doing as a Teacher Assistant is to conduct practical classes for the students which give them the chance to visit a library, a museum, a cafe, a train station, a bus station and a leisure centre. To add to this, I was involved as an Interpreter providing Bespoke FREE Life Saving Skills for Wellbeing – A First Aid Course in Havant and Petersfield.
Doing this job is a great new experience for me. I have been teaching people from different backgrounds in my native country, but now I am in the same situation as they are. So, I realise how difficult it is to move and get used to a completely different culture and social environment. As a result, I can understand what problems the refugees face and can focus on different aspects which are vitally important for surviving abroad. Without a doubt, the low level of English influences severely on the quality of their lives. On the other hand, I really admire the refugees who do everything possible to cope with the situation. I should say that I am extremely impressed by the people who work for RRN and how much they help people who need their support. I am proud to be a member of this team and experience great satisfaction when helping others.
From the refugees’ perspective I can see that RRN is providing an efficient and useful service and this is evidenced by the surveys undertaken and the informal feedback. To summarise the opinions, students value the help greatly and admit that it is easier for them to study the language. Most of them are mature students and might find learning a new language hard. But the inspiring and completely stress-free environment of the classes makes them feel much more confident in different everyday situations. As a matter of fact, they are more independent in communicating and have a better understanding of English now. The class went on six outings and not only has this had a positive impact on their use and knowledge of English but it has also created a special friendly and supportive atmosphere. The students claim they have a sense of belonging which has a definitely positive result on their wellbeing. Furthermore, all the members of the group expressed their intention to continue their studies in September. To sum up, in my opinion, the support which RRN provides to refugees is extremely important and everything done is greatly appreciated.
Sabina Rashkovska
Alex Armah has been supporting Emily Mott and Nadia Potts with the South Downs Youth Discovery project monthly activities and a residential. Alex is of Italian and Ghananian decent and has a degree in International Development from The University of Portsmouth.
I am Alex, I am Italian and Ghanaian, and I graduated in International Development from the University of Portsmouth. I have been involved with RRN since October 2023, supporting the organisation as Activity Lead. In this role, I oversee various activities, and my key responsibilities include ensuring a safe environment for all participants and contributing to the successful implementation of RRN initiatives to drive impactful change in the lives of young vulnerable people. Supporting young vulnerable people has positively impacted me, reminding me of the privilege I had by growing up freely with my family and friends, in my country. Volunteering has allowed me to pause, reflect, and find great joy in contributing to the happiness and learning experiences of those in need. I place great value on volunteering as I believe that not only vulnerable people benefit from these enriching experiences, but also all those involved, including volunteers and workers who facilitate the activities.
One inspiring moment I recall is when after a nice walk in nature, we made our pizzas and baked them one at a time in a wood-fired oven. I think everyone looked forward to enjoying the pizza prepared with care. When the first pizza was ready, the young person shared it with the rest of the group first and took the last slice for himself. Everyone afterwards followed this thoughtful gesture.I believe these activities promote light-heartedness, a pause for young vulnerable people from worries, anxieties and fears. They offer an opportunity to embrace their youth, be playful, learn new skills, interact with people from different cultures and integrate into the community.
Alex Armah
This piece is from Peter Clist who has been working extremely hard and with great determination on behalf of some of our refugee community who need support finding a way into employment.
In 2023, I stepped down after four years on Petersfield Town Council and was looking for another way to ‘put something back’. I told my Spanish daughter-in-law that I was thinking of training as an ESOL teacher. She was horrified because her view, based on her own experiences of working with refugees in Norwich was that the problem refugees had was not a lack of ESOL teachers. It was the lack of a path into paid employment. As I had spent most of my working life as a Personnel Manager, that was where I belonged. So, I joined RRN to help people into work, concentrating on the better-educated and professional women who find appropriate paid work harder to secure.
I have been working with two ladies for about six months. It has meant talking in depth about exactly what their qualifications are, any areas of particular expertise, their wishes and any constraints on their time, like dependent children. I have then looked for ‘volunteer’ or ‘intern’ opportunities, which give exposure to the specialist English in their field and help them rapidly improve their spoken language. The aim is that this leads, in time, to a paid position.
I have found an unpaid ‘volunteer’ job for each. One is in a small local finance firm which acts as the accounts department for small local businesses. The other is offering advice to Portsmouth residents along with final-year undergraduates in the legal faculty.
I have also found myself helping older Ukrainian ladies who wanted to repay the UK for its kindness in welcoming them and their families. Both are now working as behind-the-scenes volunteers at the Red Cross shop in Swan Street. They are making friends, enjoying the rhythms of work afresh and improving their English in the process.
My main job is to keep making the ‘phone calls, following up possible leads, contacting capable people from my former lives and finding paid employment for professionally qualified Ukrainian women. Watch this space………..
Peter Clist
Milly is our dynamic and a recently appointed young Trustee! Milly initially worked with Nadia and developed a comprehensive training session for our volunteers. Milly has since then had many roles to improve, promote and raise awareness about the work of the RRN. Her dedication and input have been invaluable.
I have been involved with RRN since September 2020, after finishing my undergraduate degree and a few months of going in and out of lockdown. My first role was with the Education and Employment programme, offering support and advice to individuals looking to continue their education or begin new careers. I then began supporting Kath and Nadia with the evaluations produced for the projects run by RRN. This initially involved the ESOL classes in Petersfield, and then expanded to encompass classes in Havant and the new Build to IELTS programme. I was glad to engage with the real impact of RRN’s programmes and speak to the participants to get their feedback and learn about their experience. A third strand of my work with RRN is schools outreach. When I joined, I was keen for RRN to begin expanding its collaboration to other schools in the area, especially TPS where I attended. I have produced and delivered a couple of different activity sessions based around compassion and understanding the real stories of refugees, and look forward to working more on this in future. I loved thinking about how to explore these ideas with people of different ages, and seeing how engaged and energetic the students were.
Early in 2024, Nadia and Anne invited me to become a trustee. I had to do a bit of research to learn what this entailed, as I hadn’t done anything similar before. As a trustee, I am part of a small and dedicated team of volunteers who oversee the direction of RRN. We deal with questions of funding, strategy, and more, with the intention to align all RRN’s activities with our charitable purpose and ensure the charity’s work continues to help those who need it. I hope I have contributed some new interesting ideas, and am really glad to be involved! I have taken responsibility for RRN’s communications. This entails working out how we can use our communications, especially social media, to best serve the aims of the charity and our service-users.
My time with RRN, especially as a trustee, showed me how much goes on behind the scenes of a charity. It has been a powerful experience to learn so much about the practical challenges faced by individuals trying to start a new life in a new country. During my first months with RRN I began a Masters degree in London, which involved studying Refugees and Forced Migration. The work I supported with RRN was crucial to me understanding and engaging with the personal stories of those with lived experience of displacement, adding colour and life to academic texts that often centred theory, broad patterns, or general assumptions. I am so lucky to be involved with RRN and have met some wonderful people from all over the world.
Milly Jonas
We would love to share some images from the recent activities at the RRN, from SDYP, First Aid to ESOL.
