Following RRN’s call during the summer for a two bedroom house for a family who needed to be re-housed in the Havant area, we are happy to announce that a landlord came forward! The family moved at the beginning of October 2021 and are very happy. They would like to thank everyone who have helped with the move. 

Thank you to our Head of Housing Andy Crowe for securing this property and working closely with the landlords. Thank you also to Hanan Jnied our volunteer interpreter for her ongoing support throughout this process and Vicky Baum for liaising/visiting the family during this stressful period. And lastly the help and support from HCC and Two Saints. The family is delighted and thanks to everyone involved. 

RRN also helped to secure a lovely two bedroom property in West Sussex for an Afghan family. The family is directly supported by West Sussex and Sanctuary in Chichester.

We continue to liaise with HCC and in particular East Hampshire and Two Saints in regards to Afghan families resettled in Hampshire. We are expecting to support two families in the coming weeks. 

Two Saints are looking to recruit two Community Support workers. You will be working as part of a team to support refugees, including those on the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (SVPRS) and Afghanistan Relocations Assistance Policy (ARAP), to settle into the UK. Please see the links below for further details:

 

Further information on the ARAP and Afghan Citizens resettlement scheme can be found below:

 

The RRN is also supporting an asylum seeking family who has been dispersed recently by the Home Office to our local area. The local community have been very kind and compassionate in helping to meet the immediate needs of the family. We are now working with a number of local organisations (Food bank, Church, CAB and Home Start) to provide the family with a holistic package of support. The RRN also contacted the British Red Cross (Refugee support) to ensure that the family receives professional advice and support so that they can navigate the asylum process. 

Summer family day at Queen Elizabeth Country

We have carried on supporting our existing families and managed a fabulous get together in the summer at Queen Elizabeth Country Park. Thank you to South Downs Country Park for funding the day. We explored the park with picnics! The families really enjoyed the day and we are hoping to repeat this soon… It was great teamwork with all community volunteers helping with the logistics prior to the event and on the day. A special thank you also to Helen Vyner who organized transport. 

‘’On July 29th a group of about twenty of our refugee friends enjoyed a day visit to Queen Elizabeth Country Park. After so many months of being apart it was a particularly lovely opportunity to be together again, catch up and reconnect.
The coach picked up its first passengers and then stopped in Petersfield to pick up other families before making its way to the park. Our destination was Juniper site, at the top of the park where there is outdoor equipment for children to enjoy, plenty of space to sit and chat and a pizza oven which had been hired for our use. We were able to prepare our own pizzas which were then baked in the oven under the watchful eye of some keen young men from our party! Of course, our Syrian women friends had done their usual preparation of other edible delights which they are always so happy to share. Delicious, as always! Two staff members from the park accompanied us and helped us understand some of the work of the South Downs National Park, gave the opportunity to explore and enjoy nature in Queen Elizabeth Park, and provided some activities for young children. A very welcome, relaxing and happy day!’’
Wendy Houston, Community Team Volunteer

Community Team Volunteers and Education/Employment programme

The RRN continued to deliver its education/employment programme throughout the summer.  Below you will find words from Firas who took part in the last programme and from volunteers. 

The RRN has also become a member of the Refugee Employment Network. 
https://refugeeemploymentnetwork.co.uk/

‘’I was supported by volunteers in the programme to find opportunities and build my confidence to take my next steps in education and employment. As a result of the programme, in September 2021 I started a 2 year course (Level 3 Extended Diploma in IT (QCF) Networking) which includes networking and tutoring to a career. I will also be taking my GCSE English and Maths. I was also given a driving grant that helped me to pass my driving and will help me in the future as well as working while studying.’’
Firas, previous participant

Firas came to the UK from Lebanon in 2016, after being displaced from his country of origin, Syria, in 2011. Achieving English qualifications up to Entry 3 inclusive, as well as Functional Skills and ESOL, Firas communicates clearly and effectively in Arabic and English, both spoken and written word. Firas is a quick learner, gaining qualifications in Maths (Level 1 and 2). He has made extraordinary leaps in his education, passing his exams after only one year in college with no secondary education. Firas taught himself to swim, enjoys mountain biking, and has passed the UK driving (funded by the RRN as part of this programme).

Firas takes the initiative to learn new skills and apply them to new areas of exploration, especially in his main field of interest, IT. He has developed skills in cyber security and coding, as well as web design and development, video editing, and photoshop. Firas’ interest in computer technology motivated him to build his own PC from scratch. He also has an extensive understanding of social media, partly from his own YouTube channel where he shares IT support and advice to his 5000 followers. He is effective at explaining complex concepts and enjoys sharing his ideas. As a technical support worker at an IT shop, he continued expanding his skills and knowledge of IT (hardware and software) and found that one of the aspects he enjoyed most was interacting with customers and using his knowledge to help them solve their own IT problems.

Firas has worked in other public-facing roles, including as a waiter and at a charity shop for Cancer Research. In these roles he enjoyed talking to customers and gaining an understanding of customer service and the conventions of retail. He is good at working in a team and has learned good time-management skills from these roles.  

Firas’ achievements so far show he is highly motivated and pushes himself to achieve his goals. His ambition is to pursue his interest in IT.

‘’Through RRN’s Education & Employment programme I’ve witnessed in those I’ve supported their dedication to achieve and ultimately be in a position to help those around them. I assisted them as they created their CVs, applied to colleges and prepared for interviews, while also sharing with them in talks of future aspirations. I can see how important it is to collaborate with employers in the community, to find and generate opportunities in which experience and skills can be gained. And how these opportunities provide a vital step onto the ladder of education and employment. Understandably because of their circumstances prior to arriving in the UK, those I supported did not always have formal recognition to show their qualifications, but what they did possess were strong desires that through the RRN were set in motion.’’  
Rachael Maughan, Volunteer

Exciting news….
The HCC resettlement have shared information about community interpreting courses. They are seeking applicants for their Community Interpreting courses. These courses form part of their InPower Project, offering fully funded training to refugees and the unemployed who would like to work in the interpreting sector and they have recently decided to DOUBLE the number of interpreting course places they provide, as well as offering different levels of qualification. If you know anyone who may be interested in completing a Level 1, 2 or 3 Community Interpreting course and is interested in working as an interpreter after completing the course, then please apply using the link below.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=gcX153QIl0OBQlXqO658SvN7xRfqXZ1PhkdPuotACUlUMTI2OFlON1FPWlpQRjZKOVo1VzRJTldSUC4u

Feel free to share this with anyone you think may be interested in the interpretation course and if you need more information or have any questions, please contact: shelby.james@clearvoice.org.uk. Please note that even if you have previously completed an application you still need to apply using the link.

Volunteering for RRN by Milly Jonas and Melania Gavanescu

Milly: ‘‘I have been volunteering with the RRN since September 2020 after finishing my undergraduate course. It has been amazing to work with so many friendly and interesting people, even if I am yet to meet most of them in person! A lot of the work I have been doing has been on the Education and Employment programme, which has recently expanded to include some new learners. This includes Mahmood, who I have been really enjoying getting to know and working with over the summer! Mahmood and I have been having weekly zoom calls so he can practice his English, letting me use the TEFL qualification I worked for in 2020. It has been a bit of a challenge fitting it around both of our college schedules but I think we have managed so far. We have focused on things that will help Mahmood achieve his other aims outside improving his English, such as his driving theory test which he successfully completed, and now a health and safety course which will help him in his career plans.’’ Mahmood was a tiler in Syria. As part of the RRN programme with support from his local volunteer at Chichester Sanctuary he completed a number of tiling work placements. ‘’I have really enjoyed getting to know Mahmood and learning about his family, job, home, and hopes for the future. Despite our struggles with Zoom and my dog interrupting many of our meetings, I have really enjoyed working together and look forward to seeing what he does next.’’

Mella continues to provide 121 English support and is helping a learner who recently joined her husband. They met on a Zoom meeting back in June. Mella says, ‘’she was interested in learning English with me. We started our lessons on Zoom and we’ve been meeting once a week as much as possible. We are using very good resources. She is very intelligent and a fast learner. In July I had the privilege of meeting her in person at the picnic organized by RRN and the South Downs Park, at Queen Elizabeth Country Park. We were able to talk more and get to know each other better and she told me she misses her mom very much. We both enjoy our lessons and it’s very encouraging to see she is starting to be able to form sentences and talk about different things. She has told me that the lessons are very good for her and they’ve helped her a lot as she has learned a lot as well”.

Secondment Joining the RRN

We are welcoming Rosanna Oliver-Black who has been seconded to the RRN (1 day a week for 10 weeks), thanks to the generosity of Haakon and Imogen Overli. Rosanna’s primary focus is to help with the Bedales/RRN Art Sale. 

Rosanna has a wealth of experience organising large events. In 2014, she set up her own events company http://rosannaslittleblackbook.com/ which as well as private events weddings and parties included running the annual charity ball for children’s hospice charity ‘Together For Short Lives’ hosted by Simon Cowell.
Nadia Potts, CEO