September 2001, issue 7

Latest Forum Developments
Ealing Refugee Forum held its Annual General Meeting in the Telfer Room at Ealing Town Hall on 12th September. Over thirty refugee groups and agencies dealing with refugees either attended the meeting or sent apologies. Those who attended were treated to an address by Mr. Clive Soley M.P. who kindly agreed to address the meeting one day after the terrorist outrages in the United States for whose victims a minutes silence was held. Mr. Soley spoke at some length about what he saw as the successes and failures of government policy towards refugees and acknowledged the failure of the dispersal system and the problems resulting from media hostility. Mr. Soley made a number of suggestions about the possible future shape of future refugee policy including the introduction of identity cards and the immigration entry quota system used in Canada. Mr. Soley answered a number of questions from the floor and stayed beyond the allotted time to do so. The Forum would like to render thanks to Mr. Soley and to all those who attended the public session which occupied the first part of the meeting.

In the private session which followed the Forum adopted a resolution to seek incorporation as a company. The Forum has been working on this for some time with the help of Mr. Roger Bronkhurst of Interchange Legal Services who attended the meeting to answer any queries which arose. Incorporation as a company will enhance the Forum’s ability to attract funds on behalf of its members and otherwise act as a responsible body. Our thanks go to Mr. Bronkhurst for his ongoing consultancy support and for his assistance with this matter.
The Forum also elected a new Management Committee but the personal representation from each organisation has yet to be clarified. Full details of the new Management Committee members and the organisations they represent will appear in the next edition of this Newsletter.

Other Refugee Forum
Hounslow Refugee Forum will hold its first Annual General Meeting at Hounslow Civic Centre at 10 a.m. on Saturday 27th October. This will enable the Forum to formally constitute itself and replace its present acting Management Committee with a duly elected one. The Forum continues to meet regularly and has recently obtained funding from RENEWAL SRB6 for one year which enables it to hold the AGM. A number of one to one funding surgeries have also been provided for refugee groups in Hounslow as part of the Sainsbury Trust West London Project through Ms. Angela Richardson of the Evelyn Oldfield Unit. Those interested in Hounslow Refugee Forum should contact Mr. Hassan Isse on 8577-3226 or 07951-618309 (mobile).

West London Refugee Standing Committee (WLRSC) met on the evening of 21st August and the afternoon of September 26th in Ealing. This organisation is also receiving consultancy support from Mr. Roger Bronkhurst who is developing comprehensive terms of reference for WLRSC and assisting with the regularising of each member forum’s constitution so that they are similar enough to empower them to act together. WLRSC is currently establishing a mechanism for ensuring strategic representation of refugee community organisations at various levels without diluting the power and influence of individual refugee community organisations. Ealing Refugee Forum has also drawn up a cost profile for servicing WLRSC and is co-ordinating the expenses claims of organisations holding meetings and sending representatives to them. Anyone interested in the work of WLRSC should contact Mr. Rumwold Leigh on 8992-4612.

Publications
For a number of years Action Acton and its predecessors have produced a Refugee Handbook which details the community organisations and other services for refugees based in that part of the borough. The 2001 edition compiled by Ms. Liz Cox is now available. The handbook was launched at the Priory Community Centre in Acton on 26th June at a well attended event addressed by Mr. Clive Soley M.P. which featured cultural presentations from various refugee groups in Acton. The handbook outlines a number of services available to refugees in the Acton area on the issues which concern them such as health, housing, children and employment in addition to community organisations which are generally the first port of call. The information demonstrates that despite the number of services available there is still a significant need for such services. Those who have not yet obtained a copy of the Refugee Handbook should contact Mr. Mohamed Ismail at Action Acton on 8993-6158.

Another useful publication called How To Make A New Life In The U.K. has been produced by the National Information Forum through funding from the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. It is an A5 size booklet of nearly 100 pages subtitled A Self-Help Guide For Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers. The book is full of useful information for people of any age entering the U.K. and is written in a clear and concise style which gives exact definitions of immigration terminology and spells out clearly what assistance is available for any new arrival and where to obtain it. The booklet is an exemplary guide to services and to life in general for the new arrival in the U.K. and is very easy to read without being at all patronising. The only criticism that may be levelled at the booklet is that it is in English only but the publishers are aware of this shortcoming and are about to produce versions in other languages. All those interested in obtaining copies of this booklet should contact the National Information Forum on 020-7402-6681.

New Initiatives
There are a number of new developments taking place in Ealing which will affect refugee groups. Chief among these is the Community Stakeholder Conference on 16th October concerning the new decision making arrangements for Ealing Council. This has been called as a result of consultations which reached no firm conclusions on the best model of local government structure in Ealing. Key partners and stakeholders are now being invited to the Community Stakeholder Conference to help formulate a clear preference for one system or another to facilitate the decisions which affect all our lives. If you have an opinion on whether Ealing should have a directly elected mayor with a cabinet, a council leader with cabinet or a directly elected mayor and council manager you are invited to contact Mr. Tim Lawrey at Ealing Council on 8758-5071 or conference organiser Mr. Darren Hornby on 01482-211200.

Representatives from Ealing Refugee Forum have been meeting with various agencies to discuss the establishment of a Voluntary Sector Resource Centre in the borough. It has long been an ambition to have such a centre in Ealing and a successful bid by Ealing Voluntary Service Council to the Home Office Capital Modernisation Fund has now made it possible. It is envisaged that the new centre will provide office space for several organisations of different sizes and interview rooms and training facilities in addition to a meeting space and starter accommodation for new community groups. A Steering Group of voluntary sector representatives has been established to oversee this project in which Ealing Refugee Forum will play an active part. For more details of this important development please contact the new Chief Executive of Ealing Voluntary Service Council Mr. Andy Roper on 8579-6273.

Another major development is the establishment of the Community Empowerment Fund as reported in the last Newsletter. This fund is designed to enable voluntary groups to participate in the new Local Strategic Partnership which obliges local authorities to involve a much wider group of people in decision making than has previously been the case. Ealing Refugee Forum is represented at the Ealing Community Empowerment Fund Network which is drawing up a formal proposal to put to the Government Office for London through whom the fund is distributed. The Network intends to engage in a thorough consultation process with all voluntary organisations through their existing networks. All those interested in this significant opportunity to shape the community we live in should contact Mr. Andy Roper on 8579-6273.

Forthcoming Events
Many refugee organisations have had problems dealing with the National Asylum Seekers Service (NASS). This has then created problems further down the line when it comes to assisting with Income Support claims. In order to counteract this the former Benefits Agency which is now known as the Department of Work and Pensions has organised an Awareness Session at the Nelson Room in Ealing Town Hall at 10 a.m. on 4th October. The NASS Regional Liaison Manager will be attending this session to answer queries about the operation of NASS although it will not be possible to discuss personal cases. Those who wish to attend this session should contact Mr. Sudhir Sharma at the Department of Work and Pensions on 0845-377-2316 if they have not already done so.

As usual there will be a Mayoress’ Market in Ealing Town Hall this year to raise money for the Mayor’s Christmas Fund. It will be held on Saturday 24th November from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and is being organised this year by a member of the Ealing Refugee Forum Management Committee. Refugee groups are as much a part of the Ealing community as anyone else and the market represents an opportunity for groups to take a stall and advertise their existence by selling their traditional craftwork. Those interested should contact the Market Organiser Ms. Nousha Pakpour Samari on 8997-4017.

Funding Opportunities
RENEWAL has now developed a new funding stream accessible to refugee community organisations. This is the RCO Projects Fund which replaces the previous concept of Beacon Projects. The Fund will allocate funding in the range ?5,000 to ?90,000 for up to three years for projects which are led by refugee community organisations. Partnerships with other agencies are encouraged and support will be given in finding suitable partners and formulating funding bids. Those who have not already accessed this fund should contact Mr. Stephen James at RENEWAL on 8893-0318.

London Advice Services Alliance (LASA) has announced a new programme of grants and support to advice services called the Quality Development Initiative. This project will operate in the boroughs of Ealing, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston and Richmond and offers guidance in assessing an organisation’s development needs and bursaries of up to ?5,000 to put plans into effect. Application forms for this initiative will be available at a publicity event which will take place on 10th October at Ealing Voluntary Service Council between 12.45 and 2.15 p.m. Those seeking further information on this project which could lead to significant advancements in our sector should contact Mr. Sam Parnaby on 7375-0480 or sparnaby@lasa.org.uk.

Training Opportunities
Ealing Women’s Aid is seeking female volunteer translators for a new team it is setting up. The volunteers will undertake confidential translations and receive up to ?10 per hour volunteer expenses as well as on-going training and flexible hours. Speakers of Asian and Horn of Africa languages are particularly welcome. All those interested in gaining experience and training in this way should contact Ms. Bongiwe Dube at Ealing Women’s Aid on 0775-993-5757.

The Federation of Information and Advice Centres (FIAC) has announced a new free training course called ‘Managing Refugee Organisations’ which will begin in mid-November on a date yet to be finalised. The training will take place over two days a month for five months and will be held partly at FIAC headquarters in St. Pauls and partly at Westminster Diocese Refugee Service in Victoria. The training leads to a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 4 and should enhance both the organisations whose managers attend the course and the personal development of those who hold the qualification. Those interested in this worthwhile initiative should contact Mr. Komlan Gnamatsi as the new Refugee Training Manager at FIAC on 020-7489-7920.

Ealing Voluntary Service Council has announced a number of new training opportunities. From 23rd October to 10th December the TIDE initiative is running a series of six free IT training workshops for community groups in Ealing. Each workshop trains participants in one of the IT skills every community group is now expected to have and groups serving refugees are given booking priority. Similarly refugee groups can access the Community Accountancy Self Help (CASH) project through Community Accountant Mr. Paul Boielle who is also based at EVSC. Mr. Boielle provides telephone advice on the financial management skills required by any funded organisation and is also able to make outreach visits to meet groups in person. Furthermore the European Social Fund project is now developing a training programme to help groups who wish to bid for European Social Fund (ESF) money at next bidding round which is expected to be on 4th February 2002. The programme is being developed by means of a questionnaire which all refugee groups in Ealing should have received. For further information on all these initiatives contact Ealing Voluntary Service Council on 8579-6273.

Greater London Action on Disability is also providing free training on the Disability Discrimination Act which has serious implications for the way community groups employ and serve disabled people. The training events will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in a variety of locations around London between 2nd October and 3rd December. The 2nd October event at the Courtyard Room in Hammersmith Town Hall is the nearest one to Ealing. Those seeking further information should contact the ALG-GLAD project in Bedfordshire on 01525-373964 or projects@adept-uk.demon.co.uk.

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.