August 2002, issue 12

Latest Forum Developments
Ealing Refugee Forum held an Open meeting on 31st July at 6 p.m. at the Liz Cantell Room in Ealing Town Hall. Despite the weather twenty four people attended to hear presentations on funding from Ms. Delores Graham of the London Borough of Ealing Grants Unit and Mr. Stephen James of RENEWAL. Delores explained that in addition to the main programme Ealing has a Development Fund of one-off small grants for time limited projects and is also producing a leaflet giving details of all the funds available in Ealing. Stephen spoke about some of the issues that have arisen in the RENEWAL partnership such as how to ensure that statutory partners remain involved in a refugee led partnership and stated that RENEWAL tried to support all refugee community organisations even if they do not deliver the outputs expected. As always supper was provided for all who attended and attenders were able to share information and contribute ideas. The next Open meeting will be the Annual General Meeting on 25th September.

Ealing Refugee Forum hosted a successful Refugee Week event on Friday 21st June. Over one hundred people attended the event which was held in the Victoria Hall at Ealing Town Hall. Guests were well fed with an abundance of traditional food supplied by the contributing refugee community organisations which once again demonstrated the valuable and high quality work they do by means of display stalls around the hall. Refugee community organisations also contributed to a wide ranging and eclectic cultural programme featuring Armenian and Persian dancing, Arab poetry and Bosnian and Assyrian singing. Among the guests were the Worshipful Mayor of Ealing Cllr. Kieron Gavan and Mr. Clive Soley the Member of Parliament for Ealing, Acton and Shepherds Bush who both made speeches at the event. Ealing North M.P. Mr. Stephen Pound also made a flying visit. Our thanks go to the many refugee community organisations and friends who attended and contributed to this event and to the technical staff of the London Borough of Ealing who made sure everything ran as smoothly as possible. As ever our thanks also go to the RENEWAL partnership which funded the event. Significantly the vast majority of those attending this year were refugees themselves and it is gratifying that refugees identified the event as their own and came along to support it.

Ealing Refugee Forum has been hosting Refugee Week events for a number of years. As a result of our success we are no longer the only refugee forum in West London or the only ones to host events during this week. We are glad to have been able to make a contribution to what is now a much larger and more high profile series of events than previously. Planning for next years event will henceforth be a standing item at each Management Committee meeting thus giving those who had to miss out this time the maximum opportunity to contribute to the Ealing event next year.

On Saturday 22nd June Ealing Community Network held its first conference as advertised in the last Newsletter. The conference elected representatives to the Steering Group of the Network and to the Local Strategic Partnership and Ealing Refugee Forum was elected to serve on both bodies for the current year. According to the constitution adopted at that meeting Ealing Refugee Forum now has a place on Ealing Community Network Steering Group as of right which reflects the importance of refugees to Ealing and of the Forum as its representative body. The Forum also sends representatives to a multiplicity of other local bodies such as Ealing Homelessness Forum, Ealing Domestic Violence Forum, Grants Review Steering Group and Ealing Capacity Building Network with the aim of influencing the decisions which have practical effects on the lives of refugees in this borough.

Once again we are happy to report an increase in membership. The Community Training Group based in Southall has been granted Full Membership alongside Great Lakes Development Network which was previously an Associate Member. West London YMCA is now an Associate Member alongside the Somali Refugee Messenger Project which will take out Full Membership when it sends full documentation. This means that Forum membership has increased by over 70% since April 2001 and the member organisations represent over 100,000 people across London. Further growth is projected for the rest of the year.

The Annual General Meeting of Ealing Refugee Forum on 25th September will begin with an open session and be followed by the private business of the company. Only full members of the Forum have the right to vote in the Management Committee election which will take place during the private business but as ever we hope that as many readers as possible will attend the open session. All member organisations wishing to stand for election should contact the Co-ordinator on 8992-4612 to request an application form.

Ealing Refugee Forum is moving. From 5th August onwards we will be based at West Acton Community Centre, Churchill Gardens, London W3 0JN. The telephone/fax and e-mail numbers remain the same.

Other Refugee Forum
Hillingdon Refugee Forum is establishing itself by holding a series of workshops on funding and organisational development issues for refugee community groups. Although aimed primarily at the few groups based in Hillingdon Ealing based groups will be welcome to attend once the programme has been finalised. The Forum also held a successful Refugee Week event at exactly the same time as the Ealing event despite competition from another organisation and will be holding its Annual General Meeting on 12th November. For more information contact the Co-ordinator Mr. Ige Abdi on 8561-6503 or igekos@yahoo.co.uk.

Harrow Refugee Forum has acquired funds for refugee community organisations to take part in the Community Cohesion Programme run by Harrow Council with funding from the Home Office. This involves a range of activities associated with summer holidays such as sports and arts events and family outings to Central London and Brighton. The programme is being delivered by refugee community organisations in Harrow in partnership with the local authority and at the end of the programme there will be a showcase of artwork produced during the summer. The Forum will be holding its Annual General Meeting in the morning of 18th September followed by an open meeting. For more details contact the Co-ordinator Mr. Mohammed Mohammed on 8423-3529.

West London Refugee Standing Committee (WLRSC) is organising an Awayday at which policy direction and operational priorities will be decided. This will be held at the Egdwarebury Hotel in Hertfordshire on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August. It is hoped that this will enhance co-operation between the six refugee fora in West London and formalise practical ways of achieving our common goals. For more information on WLRSC contact its current servicing agent Mr. Ayar Ata of Hammersmith and Fulham Refugee Forum on 8742-6166.

News From Members
Great Lakes Development Network has just moved to Suite 14 of Hayes Gate House on the Uxbridge Road which is the first independent office it has had. It is currently contracted to RENEWAL to upgrade its website and will be embarking on a programme of providing information technology needs assessments for refugee community organisations. Great Lakes Development Network represents communities from the Great Lakes region of East Africa such as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania and its active members are highly accomplished in the information technology field which often represents a significant path to achievement for members of refugee communities. For more information contact Mr. Jeremiah Onyach on 8848-3512 or Jonyach@aol.com.

The Community Training Group offers an integrated programme of assistance for its clients beginning with a befriending service where local asylum seekers can meet in community space and talk. This leads to generalist advice and then to careers guidance and job training to achieve first U.K. employment. The training courses are accredited and recognised certificates are issued which are acceptable to any employer. Over 50% of trainees gain employment which is a highly creditable figure. For further details contact Ms. Barbara Busbridge on 8574-2900.

The Russian Refugees Aid Society based in Chiswick is one of the oldest of all refugee community organisations having been established in 1918 after the Russian Revolution. For many years it ran three hostels for Russian refugees but now concentrates on newly arrived asylum seekers from all over the U.K. Unusually it is an entirely self-sufficient organisation and has never received government funding of any kind. Amongst other projects it organises coffee mornings where elderly Russians learn and practice English together. For further details contact its Secretary Mrs. Barbara Irvine on 8994-2599.

New Opportunities
A new refugee project has opened at Northolt Village Community Centre. It is called Refugee Help Point and is aimed primarily at the Swahili speaking communities of East Africa. The project covers Ealing and Hillingdon and will provide links to solicitors and service providers as well as counselling and translation. For more information contact Ms. Tee Byera on 07879-013962 or 07973-213374.

The Royal Mencap Society has established EMAPP which is a project for ethnic minority families who have an adult member with a learning disability. The project is seeking information on how widely local services for those with learning disabilities are used and the reasons why they are not used if this is the case. It is also seeking information on attitudes towards learning disability in particular communities. Those wishing to contribute to this project which addresses a complex and often unrecognised issue should contact Ms. Ruhi Grover on 07775-576489.

West London Mental Health Trust is inviting local organisations to take a stall at the World Mental Health Day event in Ealing Town Hall on 10th October. The idea is to promote agencies related to mental health which should include all refugee organisations as many refugees suffer from trauma or related problems as a result of their experiences. This event presents an opportunity to demonstrate that community groups have expertise to offer a client as well as co-ethnicity. For more information contact Mr. Simon O’Dell of the Community Mental Health Resource Centre on 8840-6900.

There is still time to nominate organisations for the Queens Golden Jubilee Award. Awards will be made to groups who regularly devote their time to helping others in their community and improving their quality of life and opportunity which is the case with all refugee community organisations. If your organisation provides an outstanding service and is comprised mostly of volunteers there is time to obtain an application form and factsheet by calling 0845-000-2002 or e-mailing gjaward@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

All community organisations need to take out adequate insurance for their own security and often as a grant funding condition. Some local refugee organisations have obtained appropriate insurance at a reasonable cost from a company called AON Ltd. and wish to pass on this information to other readers. AON can be contacted at Trinity Court, 2-4 West Street, Fareham, Hampshire PO16 0BH and by telephone on 0345-697504.

Funding Opportunities
The National Lottery Community Fund continues to open its doors to refugee community organisations. It seeks to support projects which improve quality of

life through access to services which is what refugee community organisations do. Grants of up to ?60,000 are available depending on the size of the project. For an application form telephone 7587-6600 or e-mail enquiries.lon@community-fund.org.uk.

Stonewall which is primarily a gay and lesbian group also offers grants of up to ?5,000 to community organisations who combat racism and other forms of prejudice. At present over 50% of its grant programme goes to projects tackling racism but a very small proportion goes to projects tackling discrimination against refugees due to lack of interest from refugee community organisations. Clearly there is an opportunity here for anyone who is prepared to make an application. For further information telephone 7881-9440 or visit the website www.c21project.org.uk.

Job Opportunity
World University Service is currently seeking a Project Finance Officer for the European Team at RETAS. The post is offered for nine months maternity cover from early October 2002. The post involves project reporting and financial monitoring for various U.K. and European funding bodies and preparing budgets and is offered on a salary of ?21,660 per annum pro rata. Those interested should send an A4 stamped addressed envelope with 41p postage to RETAS Office Manager, 14 Dufferin Street, London EC1Y 8PD before the closing date of 19th August.

Ealing Refugee Forum is funded by RENEWAL, the London Borough of Ealing and the Trust for London.