Hi Friends,

This has been a painful week: one asylum seeker had her Section 4 housing support terminated; another went to court only to find her case adjourned; another found himself destitute and on the streets; one refugee admitted that although she now has a job and a flat, she can’t work out how to be happy alone and away from her family and community.
The Volunteer Training starts on Thursday this week. It is our attempt to increase the depth of our welcome and care for sanctuary seekers, many whom we have known over many months now. Their suffering doesn’t go away but it can be eased by friendship and local people standing in solidarity with them. Do join us on Thursday if you would like to be more involved. (Details below).

Our Sponsored Bike Ride is at Alexandra Park on Monday 7th March 11am-1pm. Do come and support our Sanctuary Seekers as they raise money for the project. You can sponsor us here . 

Click here for a Youtube video: Introducing MCoS which will remind you of what we’re about.

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 3 training sessions in February:
Thursday 3rd March 10.30am -1pm  – Induction 1 Event organising
Thursday 10th March 10.30am-1pm  – Induction 2  Promotion and Awareness Raising
Thursday 17th March 10.30am-1pm  – Induction 3  Signposting and caring
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 three 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.

Sponsored Bike Ride at Alexandra Park – Only 1 week to go!
7th March 11am-1pm

Come and support our new Cyclists! Please sponsor them!

The McoS team of 11 new cyclists will be raising money to buy bike locks, bike pumps and bike parts to renovate 6 bikes so that they each have their own bike and lock. They are aiming for £500. Please help them raise money for Manchester City of Sanctuary.

Here’s some photos taken at the end of the session:
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If you could take a sponsor form into work with you Jane can email you one.([email protected]). The sanctuary seekers are not allowed to ask for money themselves but you can ask on their behalf.  All your donations are really appreciated.

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 our own 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.

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.

Congratulations go out to Estelle who is expecting her first baby in May!
She works on behalf of the Regional Asylum Activism Network.

‘Be The Change’ is their fact-packed monthly mailing, in which they are calling on ordinary people to join them in protesting against the Immigration Bill to the House of Lords, defending access to primary healthcare for refused asylum seekers, and calling for safe and legal routes to Europe for refugees.

If you would like to be sent details please contact Estelle Worthington at [email protected] | Twitter: @RAANorthWest

Can you help?
You can now sign up for a direct debit forms 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 and larger grants from eg Awards for All and the Allen Lane Foundation. £4.10 is the price of a Daysaver bus ticket. It’s the ticket to friendship and warmth, a ticket out of isolation.

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.

Postcards to tell our stories
Charlotte Graham, a local photographer and campaigner for Asylum Seekers’ Rights, is looking for 6 people to be involved in her on-going project to help politicians remain the human cost to their asylum policies.  She takes discreet photos of half-hidden faces, hands, hijab, figures in shadows.
Please contact Charlotte on [email protected]

Charlotte,has been making personalised postcards. The postcards are printed up ready to send to your local MP to ask him or her to pressurise Government to raise the Asylum rate to 70% of benefit rates.
The money raised from selling these cards for £1 in the Northern Quarter cafes is all used to support Asylum Seekers. They will be available at Conversation Clubs.

Opportunities to Talk English:

Events in March 2016

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:

• Mondays 12-2pm at THE OASIS CENTRE, Collier House, 69 Haworth Road,  Gorton, M18 8TX    07732 352 568
• Tuesdays & Thursdays 1-3pm at RAINBOW HAVEN (with Creche), PJ’s Church, 113 Abbey Hey Lane, Gorton, M18 8TJ, near Wright Robinson College
• Wednesdays 1-3pm at REVIVE, the Spiritan Centre, Northallerton Rd, Lower Kersal, Salford, M7 3TP
• Wednesday 10-11.30pm Drop-In Talk English Conversation Class at Levenshulme Inspire, M19 3AR  (0161 850 5717)
• Thursday 10-12noon ESOL Class at Victoria Park Fellowship M14 5GP  email [email protected]
•  Tuesdays & Thursdays : St Brides Church, 3 Blair Street, Old Trafford. M16 9AZ  0161 226 3047
• Alexandria Library : 247 Wilmslow Rd, (Phone for venue: 703 746 1751) Tuesday and Thursday 10-12, Beginners Monday & Friday 1-3pm, Lower Intermediate Modays 1-2, Intermediate 3-4pm Cornerstone church, Eccles

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.

Foodbank is available :

Monday 1-3pm & 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

If you would like to donate to the FoodBank these are the items that are needed:
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

Next Conversation Club: Making Music

The theme is sharing our music. If you are a musician come and join us!
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 local British people to share local knowledge and help them integrate in their new society.

“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