Hi Friends,

Are we a nation of immigrants?
According to the last census in 2011, 7.5 million citizens (13% of us) were born outside of UK. In addition, many of us have a parent, grandparent or great grandparent who was born outside of the UK or have married someone from a different country. Together, slowly, through the generations we become ‘British’. So what is British? and how does our many rich and diverse histories weave together to create cohesive neighbourhoods?

Britain’s long history of absorbing new people can help us now at a time of great upheaval and migration to make refugees welcome. It can help us ‘extend our table’ to include people who are waiting for their asylum claims to be judged fairly and offered sanctuary.

Do help us spread the news of Manchester City of Sanctuary, a movement of people in Manchester finding creative ways to make Sanctuary Seekers feel welcome. Ask them to sign up on our website for the bulletin and ask them what they could pledge to help. Invite them to come with you to a Conversation Club.
See you on Thursday.

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

Vision Day

We had an amazing time together drawing out the story of Manchester City of Sanctuary so far.
Particular thanks go to Dave Smith from Boaz, David Few who’s ‘addicted’ to it , as he says!, to Aileen, to Amy, to Linda, to Charles and Jeff, to Estelle, to Colin Elliott, and to so many people who ahve worked away to make it possible.
Welcome to Nadine Dusabe who has just joined the Steering Group with a particular advocacy role with the young people. She is a recent refugee from the tragis situation in Burundi. She has been a national adviser on Child labour with Unicef and founder of a project working to feed and educate children living off the rubbish dump outside the capital. She is a journalist and broadcaster and hopes to complete her clinical psychology degree in the near future.  She joins three other active asylum seekers who are all resilient, educated women who bring with them their wide experience and understanding of what it is to lose everything and not give up. They have so much to teach us.
We also set some priorities for the next 6 months:

• Conversation Clubs (Training up a team to deliver joy and friendship, care and welcome to all newcomers, whether local residents or sanctaury seekers)
• Fundraising to see Mcos esablished for the next 3 years (becoming a charity to unlock some grants, allow us to have a Justgiving page and use GiveAsYouLive fundraising sites)
• Building Manchester’s welcome by training Volunteers up to take up Pledges, Use Social media to communicate stories and by creating our Online Platform “Everything you need to know’ for Asylum Seekers by Asylum Seekers.
• Developing our Schools of Sanctuary Award scheme across Manchester and our Faith stream with a network of Churches and Mosques of Sanctuary throughout Manchester.

As you can see there’s lots of room for you to get involved too.
Please contact [email protected]

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

Please let Jane or Jeff know if you would be interested.

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.

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 frieds 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 or see the video attached to this bulletin.
Your school could be awarded “School of Sanctuary” status.

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

At end of February 6 people who have been on the Cycling Project will be attempting 10 laps of Alexander Park.  Please sponsor them!

Here’s some photos of the Women’s session:
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IMG_1680 . jpg

 The McoS team will be raising money to buy bike locks, bike pumps and bike parts to renovate a bike.
They are aiming for £200. Please help them raise mney for Manchester City of Sanctuary.

Sponsor forms are available on 11th and 21st Conversation Clubs
Donations welcome.

Shopping Buddy Scheme

 The new Shopping Buddy Scheme pairs up local people, who shop in the major supermarkets, with Asylum Seekers, who have Section4 support from the Home Office of £35.28, on an Azure Card,  and so therefore have no access to cash.
It is very difficult to live cashless, especially with children.
It is easier to make such a small sum go further if you can use cash to shop in charity shops, markets, cheap supermarkets and buy a bus ticket.
So far 6 people have successfully shopped together with a Sanctuary Seeker to exchange their shopping for cash.
Lovely friendships are emerging and each person has been touched and challenged by the experience.

If you would like to be a Shopping Buddy please email[email protected]

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

• http ://www . seedsforchange . org . uk/images/bullet1 . gif);”>
• Opportunities to Talk English:Events in February 2016 

  Tuesday 9th February, 10:00-12:00 Create and Talk English at Manchester Art Gallery, Mosley Street, M2 3JL

  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 3TPEvery
• 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
• St Hilda’s Church, Warwick Rd South, Firswood, M16 0JE        0161 865 1802

Visits to Royal Exchange Theatre

We have 12 tickets for the Pre-show Workshops followed by subsidised tickets to see 4 playS at the Royal Exchange this year thanks to Tracie Daly from the Communities Programme.

If you know of a refugee or sanctuary seeker who would benefit from this opportunity
please put them in contact with Jane or Jila.

The dates coming up are:
Thursday 17th March                7.30pm Performance of HUSBANDS & SONS
Thursday 21st April  5-7pm UNLOCK WORKSHOP  7.30pm KING LEAR
Thursday 16th June                                             THE NIGHT WATCH
Thursday 28th July                                              HE MIGHTY WALZER

Conversation Club

It’s s 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.

NB NEW FEBRUARY DATES:
Conversation Club on Thursday 11th February 6-8pm will be a special one on ‘Hate Crime Awareness’.
at the Transformation Community Resource Centre. (NB It’s 2nd sunday of month)

The February Community Meal will be on Sunday 21st February 12.30pm to join in the 11th Anniversary of Command Prayer Church, who host Manchester City of Sanctuary, again it will be
at Transformation Community Resource Centre, Richmond Rd, Longsight M13 0LN.

‘Still human, Still here’
Postcards to tell our stories

Charlotte, from Manchester2calais, a local photographer and campaigner for Asylum Seekers’ Rights,
has been making personalised postcards that show and tell the story of people seeking sanctuary in Manchester.
We have come to know them in City of Sanctuary. They are more than statistics. They are our now our friends.
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.

Charlotte is looking for 6 more people to be involved in the project. (Your face does not have to be shown.)
Charlotte takes discreet photos of half-hidden faces, hands, hijab, figures in shadows.

Please contact Charlotte on [email protected]

“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