Hi Friends,

One of the cyclists from the Sponsored Bike Ride declared “I love England!”. “Why?” I asked her.
She said she loved our human rights, the way we include people with disabilities pointing to the adapted trollies at the supermarket; ‘I love the freedom to speak and to speak out, freedom to meet each other and to worship, freedom to protest and change things; I like fresh food like milk and yoghurt and so much different fruit; I like your roads and the rules that make it safe; I like cycling; I like education; I like running water and electricity; I like English houses and friendly policemen’. It was good to be reminded of what I take forgranted!

Thank you so much to everyone who has signed the Sponsor forms or donated to the Cycling Fund through gofundme . org .  We will keep the site open until the end of the month.
We hit our target on the day of the ride thanks to 33 different donors. Thank you for getting behind our efforts.

The Sponsored Ride was great fun for all concerned. It was a beautiful sunny, frosty, blu-skied day. Eve Holt and her team of volunteers provided safety checks and marshalling; Rita and Sue set the riders off and held the finishing tape; thanks also to Zym from Coffee Cranks ( a bike-mobile Fresh coffee stall) for providing hot chocolate and hot coffee!

Greetings from Charles, Jila, Anita, Mayam, David, Fay, Jeff, Nadine, Jane, Dianne,

Volunteer Training

If you would like to Volunteer with Manchester City of Sanctuary
we will be offering some Induction sessions in March:

(Thursday 3rd March 10.30am-1pm  – Induction 1  Ethos & Groundrules) 
Thursday 10th March 10.30am-1pm  – Induction 2  Team building
Thursday 17th March 10.30am-1pm  – Induction 3  Group Activity Leading
Thursday 24th March 10.30am-1pm  – Induction 4  Being an Ambassador

at Transformation Community Resource Centre, 16 Richmond Grove, Longsight, M13 0LN.

Please let Jane or Jeff know if you would be interested. Please come to all the sessions.

If you cannot make daytime training but would prefer a half day of training on a Saturday 10-2pm
please let us know your availability during March.

Maternity Services

Maternity services are much in the news this week. They need to be. Maternal and infant deaths of women seeking asylum are much higher than for the rest of the population. The reasons are multiple but we want to enable much greater understanding in the profession of the needs of women who have fled war and persecution and the vulnerability of women in NASS accomodation and destitute women still within the asylum process.
On March 13th and 17th there are 2 conferences in Salford on Maternity Services for Asylum Seekers, to be addressed by Rose McCarthy and some City of Sanctuary members who can speak from firsthand experience.
(Eventbrite Beyond Consent: Supporting Women’s Choices)

On Thursday May 5th we will be hosting a session for everyone interested in increasing levels of support for mothers-to-be who are also sanctuary seekers. We hope to bring together pregnant and nursing mothers who are sanctuary seekers, Sandra Cahill, who is the midwife for all asylum seeker births and any health visitors, midwives, NCT members, doulas, breastfeeding support, befrienders and anyone else interested in supporting women during and after pregnancy.
Please contact [email protected] if you would like an invitation.

Can you help?

You can now sign up for a direct debit form on our website https://manchester . cityofsanctuary . org. There will be donation boxes, direct debit forms and sponsor forms available at each Conversation Club. Please contact Anita if you can help [email protected] or [email protected]

Manchester City of Sanctuary runs on the generosity of its supporters.
People fleeing persecution and war usually arrive alone. They have left everything to find a place of safety. After a period of time in detention, and several addresses later, they may be moved to a street near you.
Please help us to connect new asylum seekers with people who can welcome and help them.
We need small amounts of money to use to pay bus fares. Each Conversation Club needs 60-70 bus fares, each English Class, bike session, theatre ticket, planning group session needs 10-12 bus fares to make it possible for asylum seekers to take part. We need larger amounts of money to fund our worker after September and to develop many more integration activities.

Opportunities to improve your English

Tuesday 15th March, 10:00-12:00
Discover and Talk English at Manchester Museum, Oxford Road, M13 9PL

Wednesday 16th March, 10:00-12:00
Create and Talk English at Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, M2 3JL

Pre-Entry ESOL

Monday 10am-12pm THE OASIS CENTRE, Collier House, 69 Haworth Road,  Gorton, M18 8TX   07732 352 568
Tuesday & Thursday 1-3pm RAINBOW HAVEN(with Creche) 113 Abbey Hey Lane, Gorton, M18 8TJ
Wednesday 1pm-3pm REVIVE, The Spiritan Centre, Northallerton Rd, Lower Kersal, Salford, M7 3TP (supported by MCoS volunteer English teachers)
Wednesday 10am-11.30pm Drop-In English Conversation Class,Levenshulme Inspire,M19 3AR (0161 850 5717)
Thursday 10-12noon ESOL Class at Victoria Park Fellowship M14 5GP  email [email protected]
Tuesday & Thursday : St Brides Church, 3 Blair Street, Old Trafford. M16 9AZ  0161 226 3047
Tuesday and Thursday :247 Wilmslow Rd, 10am-12pm Beginners
Monday & Friday : Alexandria Library 1pm-2pm Lower Intermediate, 3-4pm Intermediate

Foodbank

Thankfully our Asylum Seekers have access to a local Foodbank when the last of their luck runs out.

We are so grateful to Sylvia, Paul, Jean and the other volunteers from Victoria Park Fellowship for the work they do two afternoons every week and to Abigail Spooner and other volunteers at Avila House.

The foodbanks are available
every Monday 1-3pm and Thursday 2-4pm
at Transformation Community Resource Centre M13 0LN

Tuesday, Wed, Friday
at Avila House on Oxford Road, next to the Catholic Chaplaincy 335-7 Oxford Rd M13 9PG.

The foodbanks would welcome donations of dried/tinned/packets of rice, oil, pasta,sugar, tea, coffee, UHT milk, cereal, soup, beans, pasta sauce, noodles, tinned vegetables, meat, tuna, rice pudding, biscuits, snacks, chocolate, jam, ketchup, boxed juice.

Making Music

The theme is sharing our music. If you have a friend who is a musician please invite them and their instrument.
Thursday March 17th 6-8pm at Cross Street Chapel, Cross Street, City Centre M2 1NL
(If you have a spare guitar please bring it.)

The March Community Meal will be on Easter Sunday 27th March 1-3pm at Transformation Community Resource Centre, Richmond Rd, Longsight M13 0LN.

NB: Thursday 21st April 6-8pm it will be at Manchester Cathedral Visitors Centre, 10 Cateaton Street, near Selfridges, M3 1SQ

Conversation Club is a chance for people of the same nationality or who speak the same language to meet and encourage each other and pass on news and advice on surviving in the asylum system.
It’s a chance for British people to share local knowledge and help sanctuary seekers integrate in their new society.

Are you a Teacher, T.A. or Headteacher?

Manchester City of Sanctuary helps schools to raise awareness of the needs of sanctuary seekers amongst the children. Children understand justice and they understand friendship.They can be great friends to families who are new to this country, who have been forced to flee their homeland.

If you are a teacher, T.A. or headteacher and want to ensure your school community knows how to make them welcome then please check out our Schools of Sanctuary page on our website :
www . cityofsanctuary . org/schoolsofsanctuary .Your school could be awarded “School of Sanctuary” status.

If you would be interested in a singing project to bring your school community together check out this example from PopUK https://www . youtube . com/watch?v=0JFhcdb70R0

If you are interested in more information for Manchester schools please send Jane or Fay your contact details.

“The objective of the City of Sanctuary movement is to create a culture of welcome and hospitality for those seeking Sanctuary, Refugees and other vulnerable migrants amongst us” – Inderjit Bhogal, founder of City of Sanctuary