birchnetwork.bsky.social
BIRCH Network is a volunteer led charity working to harness the enthusiasm of local people to offer friendship and hospitality to people seeking sanctuary
www.birchnetwork.org
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All in all, a busy week with many challenges but some great outcomes and as always, so great to team up with some great organisations across the city!
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- lots advocacy which makes a big difference (supporting a deaf man register with a supportive GP, sorted out wrong messages from the Home Office telling someone who's Arabic speaker to come for interview with Vietnamese interpreter, lots of emails determine the outcome of asylum interviews....)
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- distributing 15 pairs of football boots at our football sessions with OIKOS Collective & Aston Villa. Thanks to funding from William Dudley Trust & Tesco Stronger Starts
- bus tickets, bus tickets, bus tickets - a life changing scheme from Transport for West Mids & @migranthelp.bsky.social
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- absolutely delighted to have been awarded a £4910 grant from Comic Relief Communtiy Fund for our youth hub work and £3500 from the Eveson Trust for our family support work
- team work which prevented a 19 year old man from being evicted and supported another to apply for sanctuary scholarship
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- great response to our volunteer advert for our youth hub. We hope to have a new team set up and running soon!
- huge thanks to residents from Station Road in Kings Heath for donation £100!
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- a successful befriending match:
"it was our pleasure to meet him, who wouldn't want to support him. Bless him. We will do our utmost to help how we can." [Befriending volunteer]
"i will visit tham i will be happy It's nice to have sem [some] one like this i don't have any one" [befriendee]
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- a chilly but sunny visit to the ever welcoming BHam Botanical Gardens. Witnessing some of our group smiling for the first time since we have got to know them. Believing in the power of naure to help improve wellbeing.
- raising almost £3000 towards our Winter Appeal. Thanks all those who donated.
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- hearing that two people we have been supporting got Refugee Status! One still in Bham, another dispersed to Liverpool but who still got in contact to share the good news. Good luck to them both!
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- supporting many people with lodging appeals as the Home Office continue to zoom through interviews, clearing one backlog and creating another.. endlessly grateful to the fantastic team at CARE @refugeeaction.bsky.social supporint us to get people back into asylum support and out of destitution
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- feasting on Sudanese and Syrian food at our youth hub. Really enjoying the new space at St Johns, Sparkhill which allows for our members to cook for each other and share their home cuisines
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As we go into 2025 and know that many struggles lie ahead. We remain committed to working with and supporting more people seeking sanctuary to feel welcome and safe with us.
Please help us continue this work and consider donating to our winter appeal.
www.justgiving.com/campaign/bir...
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We pride ourselves on being flexible in being able to offer this support and not have to shut them out once they have moved away.
Making people feel more connected lies at the core of our work and this is particularly so for the boys in our youth hub, one describes the group as his ‘family’.
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The relationships we build are integral to our work and this is also demonstrated by many people who are relocated out of Birmingham, getting in touch for help and support – they know that we will try to support them in their new areas and with the new challenges they face.
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We also reflected on the importance of just being able to be there for people when they need us to be ... the stuff that makes that necessary isn't necessarily the bigger ‘good news’, but we are reminded again and again this week how much it matters.
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- lastly, injera, dancing, music, pool and fun at our youth hub for their festive party – no one wanted to leave – we held this in a new venue and St John’s Sparkhill were so welcoming to us.
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- followed by festive celebrations at our English class in one of the hotels, with the guys teaching their English teachers and staff how to dance! Lots of fun and laughter learning the Hokey Cokey!
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Thanks, we are reminding ourselves of all the good things to try to keep morale going! Been a very tough year...
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What a week.
Of course we also face many challenges and often cannot always resolve situations but these moments of welcome help us to continue with the fight and struggle.
Please support us to continue this vital work.
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www.justgiving.com/campaign/bir...
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- linking an age disputed young man who is really struggling with isolation and his mental health and the befrienders immediately linking him with gardening opportunities, teaching materials & football
- getting another child from a hotel into a local school with another starting next week
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- another lovely trip to the B:Music Symphony Hall for some Ghanian and Nigerian from Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham - 6 of our young people were also invitied to listen to a rehearsal - our staff reflected that "we do live in a special city" - full of venues ready to support sanctuary seekers
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- immigration advice and support from Sue Conlan (tactic.org.uk) helping us support a family potentially facing a forced removal submit a fresh claim - endlessly grateful for this resource and fantastic training too
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- Martineau Gardens helping us to host 60 young people for a Christmas party, full of fun, fire, dancing and laughter - another amazing welcoming space
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- preventing a young man from getting evicted from his hotel, due to Home Office incompetence, thanks to partnership work with the FANTASTIC CARE Team @refugeeaction.bsky.social West Mids - we cannot praise them highly enough! We then helped this man submit his asylum appeal.
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- giving out over 70 SIM cards via the National Digital Inclusion Network run by @goodthingsfdn.bsky.social making a lot of disconnected feel much happier and connected
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Help us continue this work.
DONATE
SHARE
SHOP
www.justgiving.com/campaign/bir...