Preparing this Newsletter has given us the chance to reflect on the progress RRN has made over recent months, and we are excited to share these milestones with our supporters. Once more RRN has adapted and expanded, seizing new opportunities and meeting emerging challenges. A highlight has been witnessing the South Downs Youth Discovery Project transform into the broader Youth Discovery Project, now launching an exciting new initiative in Portsmouth – NEST – thanks to a generous grant from the National Lottery Community Fund. Weekly drop-in sessions for unaccompanied minors are now in place, alongside regular outings to explore our local countryside and local places of interest.
Emily, who is one of our longest serving trustees and our volunteer Verity have been instrumental in getting this project up and running and provided invaluable assistance in recruiting an excellent team to run the programme. We welcome Alex and Kat as Youth Coordinator and Youth Worker respectively to our team and we are also delighted to have recruited four wonderful volunteers: Agatha, Sophie, Mahmoud and Rebecca as well as our ESOL qualified teacher – Shelley.
Both the weekly sessions and the day trips give the young people a chance to socialise, improve their English, learn vital life skills and explore their new environment. It also provides them with a much needed opportunity to have some fun together in a relaxed atmosphere.
We are indebted to the many organisations and individuals who have added value to these activities and in some cases made them logistically possible. In particular we want to thank Bedales School for their continued support with transportation, and to Meon Springs, South Downs National Park Youth Action Trust, Peoples and Stories, Portsmouth City Council, Lee Robin Young, Portsmouth Museum amongst many others.
Youth Discovery project’s NEST Launch took place in November at St Luke’s Church in Portsmouth. The event was attended by a wide range of local organisations including The Base, Urbond, Sudanese Association, Portsmouth City of Sanctuary, City of Portsmouth College and Portsmouth City of Council and many others.
It was an opportunity to share the story of the Project’s development and our mission to transform the lives of some of Portsmouth’s most vulnerable youths. A delicious lunch was provided by The Kitchen of Hope, a fantastic local organisation that offers nourishing meals while supporting community integration.
We would like to thank all the supportive organisations, the young people and their carers, our volunteers and staff for making this event a success!
RRN’s other core activities have continued and we are grateful to our ESOL teacher Hilary and assistant Ukrainian teacher Margo for continuing the excellent beginner ESOL lessons to a group of senior Ukrainian female refugees in Havant. This programme, which is funded by Havant Borough Council includes monthly excursions/activities chosen by the group which have greatly helped the students with their confidence in learning English. In December Itchen College delivered a fun Christmas baking session. The group baked fabulous mince pies and improved their vocabulary during the class. In January the group visited Havant Library again and will in the future attend a dedicated weekly conversation class.
Our community volunteers, Kay (one of our trustees) and ESOL teachers have also been busy as RRN has been supporting refugee families. We are looking forward to welcoming a new baby into a family in the coming months. We have also recently welcomed an Afghan woman into a flat in Havant. RRN continues to work in conjunction with Two Saints in providing support and essential clothing/household grants and donated laptops to the families who have recently arrived.
Peter, our volunteer who helps refugees move forward with their career ambitions, continues to work tirelessly on behalf of two women; one of whom is seeking to secure work in accountancy and the other in law (intellectual property). Please do get in touch if you can offer employment – hello@ruralrefugeenetwork.org.
Finding the funds to run all our projects is always a preoccupation of the Board of Trustees and never without its challenges. However, we are pleased to report that in addition to the National Lottery Community Fund grant RRN was successful in applications to the Postcode Lottery and The Hilden Charitable Fund. As we are learning, a successful application for grant funding takes time and determination and we are grateful to Kath and Richard, two of our trustees, and our volunteer Verity, amongst others, for the time and attention to detail that they have given to these successful applications.
At the end of last year, we discovered we had a very talented chef in our midst! Malak, one of the Syrian ladies who RRN has been working with, was identified by Hilary, one of our ESOL teachers, as having a real talent for cooking. RRN was delighted to fund Malak in taking her Level 2 Food Safety Course, in which she was successful and as a result, she cooked an array of fabulous food for our volunteers’ lunch in December. It was such a success that she was immediately asked to provide the food for the end of year Youth Discovery Project’s NEST gathering. Please email hello@ruralrefugeenetwork.org if you would like Malak to prepare some food for you.
As ever, a huge thank you to St Laurence Church, Petersfield, for providing the venue and for their continued support of RRN.
Not everything was a cause for celebration for us as sadly Anthony Thistleton-Smith stepped down from the Board of Trustees at the end of last year. Ant has been involved in RRN since the outset and his contributions to RRN have been extensive, having repeatedly stepped in to plug a gap or hold the fort when required to do so. The fact that RRN is in such good shape is, in many respects, as a result of his long and loyal service. We know that Ant will continue to take an interest in RRN and we look forward to seeing him at RRN events in the future.
Finally we want to tell you about a touring exhibition that the British Museum is putting on in conjunction with the Portsmouth Museum:
Ancient Sudan: Enduring heritage
Saturday 1 February 2025 – Saturday 19 April 2025, Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery
We are thrilled that the Youth Discovery Project was invited to contribute to this remarkable exhibition, which showcases fine examples from the Kingdom of Kush with its rich cultural heritage but also provides a platform to address the horrors of the current civil war in Sudan. This overlooked conflict has created a vast humanitarian crisis with mass displacement of over 11 million people. The most vulnerable victims of war are children and it is they who have been given an important role in this exhibition with their Wall of Hope. Thank you to the British Museum and the Portsmouth Museum and Art Gallery for giving the young people involved with RRN’s NEST this brilliant opportunity to raise awareness and to inspire meaningful change.
Please do go if you get a chance. More information can be found at:
https://portsmouthmuseum.co.uk/what-to-see-do/special-displays/ancient-sudan-enduring-heritage/
Best wishes to everyone for the year ahead.
Anne & Nadia