April 2002, issue
10
Latest Forum Developments
The Forum has held three meetings since the last Newsletter. The first
was a Management Committee meeting on 26th February which concluded
two particularly important items of business. Firstly the recommendations
of the consultation exercise undertaken by the Forum with its members
were adopted in full. This gives the Forum a policy laid down by its
members on a number of operational issues such as the time and nature
of meetings and its method of engagement with the Local Strategic
Partnership where it continues to be represented. Secondly in line
with these recommendations the Forum drew up a programme of meetings
for the rest of the calendar year to engage all stakeholders in the
borough. Half the meetings will be Management Committee meetings and
half Open meetings held in the evenings at Ealing Town Hall. The programme
is:
Open meetings: 28th March
28th May
31st July
AGM 25th September
27th November
MC meetings: 30th April
26th June
4th September
23rd October
11th December.
The second meeting since the last Newsletter was held on the evening
of 28th February at the Centre for Armenian Information and Advice.
This was the Community Empowerment Fund consultation meeting for refugee
community organisations which was one of a number of thematic consultations
on this subject facilitated by Ealing Voluntary Service Council. The
purpose of the Community Empowerment Fund is to enable groups to participate
in the Local Strategic Partnership by building their capacity and
the object of this meeting was to identify how refugee groups would
like to see this government money used in Ealing. A number of useful
suggestions were made during an informed and lively discussion including
funding refugee groups to do their basic work in order to free their
time to attend meetings and paying refugee organisations to host meetings
of the Ealing Community Network which elects the voluntary sector
representatives. It was also suggested that Local Strategic Partnership
members should be obliged to visit refugee community groups as part
of their job description. As most of those attending this meeting
were Forum members its recommendations are now the policy of the Forum
and will be pursued on the Local Strategic Partnership by its Co-ordinator
who currently acts as its representative.
28th March saw the first of the Open Forum meetings alluded to above.
This was attended by eighteen people of whom fourteen represented
refugee community organisations. In addition to an open session and
discussions on Forum policy the meeting received presentations from
Mr. Kwasi Adu of the London Borough of Ealing Supporting People Team
who spelled out the possibilities for Ealing based refugee groups
to be funded for providing housing related support and Ms. Berenice
Miles and Mr. Amin Ladha of the London Borough of Ealing Diversity
Action Team who consulted attenders about the Race Equality Scheme
which the council is now obliged to produce by law. These debates
once again proved lively and reflected both the viewpoints held in
individual communities and the common problems all refugee groups
face. The Open meetings are intended to provide access to the Forum
for those who are unavailable during office hours and for those outside
the Forum who wish to engage refugee communities in their work and
this first meeting proved a success which should be repeated. We look
forward to welcoming more to the next meeting and all those interested
should contact Mr. Rumwold Leigh on the above number for more information.
Once again Ealing Refugee Forum can announce the acceptance of a new
member organisation. This is the Swahili Support Network based in
West Ealing which is a new organisation with a health awareness focus
serving a distinct but often overlooked community. This brings the
total membership to twenty five organisations of which eighteen are
Full Members as they are refugee owned and led and seven Associate
Members as they provide services to refugees. It is expected that
these numbers will again increase noticeably in the coming year. Those
interested in the work of the Swahili Support Network should contact
its Secretary Mr. Ken Rugera on 8354-9404. The Forum has also welcomed
Mr. Edmond Michaels of the Middle East Christian Minorities Advice
Centre to its Management Committee.
Other Refugee Forum
Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum held its Annual General Meeting
on 26th March at the Irish Centre in Hammersmith. Over one hundred
people attended and heard a report on the year’s activities and
speeches from Mr. Claude Moraes MEP and Cllr. Tim Stanley of the local
authority’s Social Inclusion Unit who announced a further grant
of ?7,000 towards training organised by the Forum. This will supplement
the existing capacity building and active citizenship training the
Forum instituted in February. A twelve member Management Committee
drawn from refugee community organisations was also elected with three
more non-refugee led organisations to be co-opted. Food and entertainment
were also provided. Those interested in Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee
Forum should contact its Co-ordinator Mr. Ayar Ata on 8748-2909.
Harrow Refugee Forum has appointed Mr. Mohammed A. Mohammed as its
new Co-ordinator. Mohammed is already familiar to many in West London
through his work with refugee community groups in Brent and we are
glad to welcome someone of his experience into the fold. Those interested
in the work of Harrow Refugee Forum should contact its Chair Mr. Alex
da Costa on 8427-5701.
Harrow Refugee Forum has also taken over the servicing of West London
Refugee Standing Committee (WLRSC) for the next four months. This
is the first of the four-monthly rotations of WLRSC servicing and
chairing responsibility agreed at the previous WLRSC meeting. WLRSC
is currently seeking to develop links with other organisations and
in particular the Local Strategic Partnerships in each borough and
the Co-ordinator’s Training and Support Service (COTASS) which
is the national organisation for refugee community organisation Co-ordinators.
Those interested in current developments in WLRSC should contact Mr.
Rumwold Leigh on 8992-4612.
Forthcoming Events
As of 31st March the Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow Health Authority
(EHHHA) ceased to exist. It has now been replaced by three Primary
Care Trusts (PCTs) one of which is Ealing PCT. Each PCT will have
its own Board of Directors and part of the induction programme for
these new directors is a tour of community projects on 8th May. This
provides an ideal opportunity for refugee groups to question people
who will be making decisions concerning their clients. The tour begins
in Acton at the Kids Cookery School at 9 a.m. followed by a visit
to the Centre for Armenian Information and Advice which is a Forum
member at 10.15. The Ealing Centre for Independent Living is next
at 11.30 a.m. followed by Milap Day Centre at 1.30 and the Mind Action
Centre at 3 p.m. Refugee community organisations are encouraged to
attend one of these locations and it is also possible to arrange a
display advertising the work of your organisation. For further details
contact Mr. Stephen Blann or Ms. Polly Eaton at Ealing Voluntary Service
Council on 8579-6273 by 29th April.
A new language pocket poster and baseline audit are about be launched
by the Primary Care Trusts of Ealing, Hounslow and Hammersmith. This
has come about as a result of pressure from the Fair Access Forum
established by the previous health authority at which the Forum is
represented. The Hammersmith launch will take place on 29th April
at the Irish Centre in Blacks Road while the Ealing launch will take
place the following day at the Dominion Centre in Southall and the
Hounslow launch at a venue to be confirmed on 7th May. The language
pocket poster will be displayed in all GP surgeries and contains a
number of cards bearing the names of languages which a speaker that
language can hand in to a receptionist to request an interpreter in
that language. The baseline audit has established the gaps in service
provision which this partially seeks to fill. For further information
contact Ms. Gillian Francis-Musanu at Ealing Primary Care Trust on
8893-0344.
Unusual Opportunities
On 25th February the Co-ordinator met with Ms. Georgina Samuel of
Ealing Children’s Information Service. Various funding and training
opportunities emerged from this meeting. Many refugees have significant
childcare experience within their own families and training in professional
childcare is a possibility which would fill a market need. Similarly
childcare can form a part of supplementary school provision and act
as a means of gaining funding through integrated packages of supplementary
school for school age children with English classes for their parents
and childcare for their younger children added. It can also be linked
to a funding development plan leading from childcare to after school
clubs to youth clubs to further education provision. The Children’s
Service also has a database of available childcare places in the borough
which would be useful for those seeking work who are currently prevented
from taking a job by childcare commitments. All those interested should
contact Ms. Georgina Samuel on 8832-6048 for further information.
Another useful meeting was held between the Co-ordinator and two representatives
from the London Borough of Ealing Environmental Development Section.
This was the first stage in what is hoped will be an ongoing consultation
about the Development Plan for Ealing. Amongst the ideas discussed
were more affordable housing for larger families and key worker accommodation
and premises for community groups to enable them to attract and retain
staff. Another possibility was that retail outlets for refugees could
be incorporated into the Development Plan. Although these ideas are
not new the Forum is now able to speak to the people who actually
write the Development Plan and influence its contents. All those interested
should contact the Co-ordinator on 8992-4612 to contribute further
ideas as to what Ealing should look like in the future.
Training Opportunities
The Evelyn Oldfield Unit has kindly sent us details of its latest
training programmes. These are: Effective Staff Supervision and Appraisal
on 22nd April, Negotiation Skills on 30th April, Recruiting a Governing
Body for your RCO on 17th May and Operational Management on 28th May.
These courses are free and highly recommended and early booking is
essential. For further details contact the Unit’s Training Manager
Mr. Emad Salman on 7700-0100 ext. 268 preferably before 12th April.
We have also received information about two law workshops on the rights
of women asylum seekers organised by Legal Action for Women and held
at Crossroads Women’s Centre. These are Preventing Dispersal
on 18th April and Preventing Detention and Removals on 25th April.
The workshops aim to bring together women with organisations who are
willing to support them and are recommended as a first step in addressing
the needs of a large but underrepresented part of each refugee community.
For more details contact the Workshop Co-ordinator Ms. Nina Lopez-Jones
on 7482-2496.
World University Service is seeking applications for a training course
in Human Rights Advocacy for Refugees and Asylum Seekers from Africa.
The course aims to assist participants both to promote human rights
in Africa and engage more effectively in promoting African human rights
issues in the U.K. Applicants should ideally be nominated by a refugee
community or human rights organisation and applications from women
are particularly welcomed. For more details contact Mr. Richard Germond
at World University Service on 7426-5825 before the application deadline
of 15th May.
Another World University Service course which is always well subscribed
is the Refugee Doctors Re-qualification Programme. This provides a
vital service for the many refugee doctors who are obliged to undertake
further examinations before practising in the U.K. The course offers
initial information and advice on professional re-qualification and
follows this with mentoring support from a UK doctor and financial
assistance with travel expenses and the costs of taking the IELTS
and PLAB tests and undertaking clinical attachments. Those interested
should ring World University Service on 7426-5801 or e-mail kona@wusuk.org.
Funding Opportunities
We have been sent information on the London European Social Fund (ESF)
Global Grants Programme which is also known as FastForward Grants.
This is aimed at small organisations unable to access mainstream ESF
funding and can give grants of up to ?10,000. Many refugee community
organisations whose work would otherwise qualify them for ESF funding
will fall into this category. For further information contact Mr.
Roger Whitfield at Greater London Enterprise on 8403-0300.
This Newsletter
From this month onwards the Newsletter will be published at the beginning
rather than the end of months. This is because several meetings and
news items occur at the end of each month. We are also pleased to
announce that a grant from London Borough of Ealing will soon enable
us to enhance the newsletter to provide a superior service to our
readers.
This newsletter is funded by the Camelot Foundation.
Ealing Refugee Forum is funded by RENEWAL, the London Borough of Ealing,
Comic Relief and the Trust for London.
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