Annual Report 2020

This time last year, we were reporting on the 29 Syrian families resettled in Cheltenham and highlighting the popularity of the monthly Community Café social event. We were concerned about the huge workload of the GARAS Resettlement worker and looking at ways to help. We were continuing to look for alternative accommodation options to enable more Syrian families to come over. We had just started a weekly drop-in for the asylum seekers who had begun to be housed in Cheltenham. We were building our relationships with schools. We felt our relationships with allies and potential partner were developing. We were pleased with the success of National Refugee Week – and noted that Cheltenham had achieved Town of Sanctuary status.

Over the mid-winter period and into early Spring, things continued in the same vein. A few more families arrived. The Community Café was abuzz and threatening to outgrow its space with 60-70 attendees. The weekly Hub for people seeking asylum became established and, as well as offering practical support, became a place of relaxed chat and often fun and laughter. At the request of some of the families, Conversation Classes (to complement the work of Gloucestershire College and Cheltenham Volunteer Teachers) were started. Plans began to form for the 2020 National Refugee Week and a bigger and better Eid Party.

But then came the COVID 19 pandemic and things changed. There has been no Community Café since March. The Hub was cancelled for three weeks but re-emerged on Zoom. The Conversation Classes stopped – although re-started on Zoom in June. A modified programme for Refugee Week went on-line (although with no such option for the planned pop-up restaurant). The Eid Party was cancelled. As lockdown restrictions eased in the summer, we were able to have a few picnics in Pittville Park with our asylum-seeking friends. A new volunteer organised a highly entertaining and informative Wildlife Walk in the same Park for younger children. The Friends Meeting House made adjustments to ensure it is COVID-safe and, as a voluntary activity offering a support service, The Hub has returned – although without board games!

A consequence of much of our support going online (as was much of the education offered to children and adults from schools and colleges), was our growing awareness of Digital Poverty, of people not being able to engage with education, support or even legal advisors because they lacked devices or even an internet connection. This is not unique to refugees and asylum seekers, but they have been our focus. Firstly, we raised funds for additional mobile data for the phones of the asylum seekers so they could keep in contact.

We began to source laptops and tablets for those without adequate devices. We have joined with GARAS to ensure that the shared houses of the asylum seekers have wi-fi. Individuals and businesses in Cheltenham have been hugely supportive of this initiative, which will continue into the coming year.

Although work with schools has ground to a halt, with no immediate prospect of re-starting, our awareness and educative function has moved online. We have a close working relationship with a re-invigorated student Refugee Support Society at the University and have developed a series of online “Conversations” with speakers covering a range of topics related to our work. We are developing an online Book Club. Our Facebook audience continues to grow and we have a significantly increasing presence on Instagram and Twitter. Our Supporters Newsletter goes out to 365 people on a monthly basis.

An unforeseen phenomenon this year was the huge public reaction to the death of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement. CWR was invited to speak at the event in Pittville Park in June and have stayed involved with subsequent activity – culminating in the Cheltenham Change Conference held online on 30th November. This high profile was also reflected in a surge of interest in our social media and newsletter, but also resulted in a number of new volunteers coming forward as a direct result. This is in an area where we would hope to remain an active ally and partner organisation.

And behind the scenes, routine work and organisational developments continued. GARAS have restructured their Resettlement Team, bringing additional resources to Cheltenham. Members of the Core Group, with representatives of Cheltenham Volunteer Teachers, now meet that team on a regular basis.

Following on from increased involvement of volunteers from the local Muslim community (especially in helping with food parcels during the first lockdown and in collecting for Eid gifts for the Syrian children), we have been able to establish a more active and diverse Faith Group, to build on the existing links with some churches. We are aware that many volunteers (especially those whose main focus was the Community Café) have, effectively, been furloughed. We are aware many of our new volunteers have not been fully engaged yet. But we are trying to keep in touch and hope to utilise all the undoubted talent and energy of these amazing people next year.

To summarise: this has been a challenging year. Whilst some families will have received less support than we would have liked, they have continued to support each other, and we have done what we can. We are more confident that we have been there for those seeking asylum. And, as identified above, we have tried to adapt to these strange times. Above all, we have been overwhelmed by the support we receive from the wider community (both individuals, businesses and community groups), whether donated clothes, bikes and household goods, free resources and venues, financial grants and individual donations. To give just one example: in the midst of the first lockdown, an asylum-seeker was granted leave to remain. With underlying health conditions and needing to shield, he was offered an unfurnished flat to move into immediately. We were able to collect and deliver donated furniture and household goods, enabling him to move in, within 4 days.

Looking forward:

We do not know when and how the impact of the pandemic will ease, but we are confident we will continue to do what we can to meet our dual aims of support and awareness-raising.

More significantly, as reported in more detail in the Treasurer’s Report, our income for the year is such as to require us to register as a charity. This was not exactly planned but a result of, initially, needing more funds to support the arriving asylum-seekers and then to meet the challenges of the pandemic. To an extent, we were more successful than we needed to be – but that is no bad thing. We see this as a change of legal status but not a change of activity or a significant change of structures but will be keeping supporters fully informed as things progress.

Maggie Powell

Secretary

Treasurer’s report 2020

In Summer 2019, for the first time, people seeking asylum started to be housed in Cheltenham by the Home Office. As a result, the attention of the CWR core group had turned to the challenge of shifting to a different financial framework that would facilitate a pool of money that will be available to meet the essential needs of those seeking asylum.

During the 12-months from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020, this objective was achieved. The Asylum Action Crowd Funder alone raised £2,262 from 33 of our generous supporters.

As predicted in last year’s report, CWR’s total expenditure significantly exceeded that of last year at £4,281. For the first time, income exceeded the £5k mark, which necessitated a structural rethink and registration with the Charity Commission.

A full summary of expenditure and income is set out in the table overleaf. We particularly appreciate the £760 received from the Concert organised by Sheila Mander. The summary also refers to the significant support we receive in kind: furniture, clothes, prams and toys. Most notably we acknowledge the contribution we have received in terms of our volunteer’s time and expertise, for teaching English and sharing local knowledge or the contribution from Christina Poulton, who shared her knowledge of fundraising and advised on the restructuring of CWR to achieve charity status.

During the first half of the financial year, CWR continued to make frequent use of the Friends Meeting House, who as a sanctuary organisation, allow CWR to have free use of the building both for meetings of our Core Group and other Committees and The Hub for those seeking asylum.

Similarly, the success of the Community Café depended on the support of 3C Church and the free use of The Pavilion. Their generosity in doing so is very much appreciated.

Coronavirus Pandemic

The pandemic has affected the operations and activities. CWR has always relied on opportunities to generate awareness and funds at events such as the street stall and those put on during Refugee Week. Fortunately, we were able to contribute to the BLM protest in Pittville Park, which, although raising no funds, generated notable online interest and enquiries from interested volunteers.

Financially, we have managed to secure income saved funds on hiring premises, as well as on publicity and printing costs by hosting events online and advertising via email and social media – although have new expenditure on Zoom.

For the people that we support, the pandemic highlighted digital poverty. Among the other one-off grants and donations was £840 from the Emergency Covid funds administered by the Barnwood Trust which was claimed and primarily used to purchase mobile phone data, and £1,200 donated privately for laptops, which helped the recipients to study as well as feel less isolated.

Sam Evans

CWR Treasurer

30 November 2020