Dear Friends and Supporters,
We start with a big and heart-felt thank you to David Few who is stepping back from chairing Manchester City of Sanctuary Steering Group from the end of the month.
David has been involved since the very beginning when, in 2011, Dave Smith invited people together to ‘create a culture of welcome for asylum seekers and refugees in Manchester’. David’s energy, passion and can do attitude have shaped the character of Manchester City of Sanctuary.
We invite you to join us at our September Conversation Club at Cross Street Chapel, Thursday 15th September, when we can thank him together. David will continue to bring his joy and sense of fun as a trustee focussing on fundraising and Schools of Sanctuary.
We also say au revoir to Nadine Dusabe, our volunteer from Burundi. She will continue to provide support for our young people especially those who can’t go on to university with their peers because they are still waiting for their ‘leave to remain’. Nadine is an experienced youthworker and project manager. So let us know if you see any job opportunities for her!
NCS Young Volunteers programme will be running 2 photography sessions for our sanctuary seekers this week and and 2 days of filming next week. Thanks to The Challenge, Tameside, for partnering with us to offer asylum seekers new opportunities.
On Saturday 6th August we experienced a wonderful ‘Picnic in the Park’ Event with BBQ, music & dancing, face-painting, giant bubbles and parachute games. Thanks especially to Mike Cooke at Plymouth Grove Primary School for pledging the school grounds for our annual event.
Seven of our sanctuary seekers have been working with the Artist Mark Storrer to create a unique pice of visual, performance art based on Grimms fairy tale of the Severn Swans, exploring grief, pain, hope and silence – not being able to speak out. The production “Little Sister’ was at the Royal Exchange with 5 stunning performances 4th-7th August. Congratulations to Shamim, Zeeshan, Angie, Marc, Andrea, Fazana and Raqia for their commitment and courage!
And finally, thanks to a grant from BigBikeRevival we have been able to offer a 3rd Cycle Course to another 14 sanctuary seekers. Eve Holt, from Whalley Range on Wheels, and her team work tirelessly with all ages to teach people to ride bikes and volunteers from BikeRight work on old bikes to bring them back into good repair.
Go to www . GoFundMe . com/MCoS-Ride-Free if you can help with transport costs for the course (£50 per week).
Summer holiday greetings!
from David, Charles, Nadine, Jeff, Fay, Dianne, Zhila, Maryam and Jane
