July Newsletter
Dear Friends,
We hope you are all staying cool in this extraordinary weather. We have some very cool news to share with you this month... we have found a home for our family!!
We are delighted to have reached this brilliant milestone and we are now full-steam ahead to recruit and train a full team of volunteers who can provide all the support the family will need when they arrive in Camden. Please get in touch if you or someone you know is interested in supporting the family!
We have a wonderful group of volunteers and supporters, and we are so grateful for all the support we have received so far. We are very excited to be so close to meeting the family and would love for more people to join us and share this incredible experience.
As always, if would like further detail about anything related to the project or are interested in getting involved, please do contact us. And please do forward our newsletter to anyone you think might be interested in our project.
With warm wishes,
The Friendly Welcome Team
A HOME FOR THE FAMILY!
We are delighted to announce that Origin Housing have offered us a nice 2 bed first floor flat in Somers Town. It is secure and newly refurbished with a new kitchen and bathroom, and in a great location.
Somers Town is the area between St Pancras and Euston stations, north of Euston Road and south of Crowndale Road. It is a diverse community with good schools and a wide range of services and resources close by that the family can access to help them start their new lives in London.
Once we have furnished the flat and kitted it out with everything the family will need when they arrive, it will be a great place for them to live and a wonderful base from which to explore and settle into our community.
NEXT STEPS
Now that we've identified a property, the next steps are:
Inspection and approval of the property by Camden council
Police review of safety
Researching local schools and services so that we can be matched with a family whose needs can be met locally
Updating and the finalising the Resettlement Plan, submitting it to the Home Office and then meeting with the Home Office to be matched with a family.
All being well we hope to be matched with a family in August, and to welcome them in the second half of October.
GET TO KNOW US
We will be holding a couple of online "Get To Know Us" sessions in August and early September. The first of these will be for new volunteers on
25 August 5:30-6:30 pm.
This will be a great opportunity for volunteers and potential volunteers to meet some of the team and find out more about volunteering with us, what you can expect and how important your contribution will be.
BOOK HERE
If you would like to attend this session but have not yet registered your interest in volunteering, please complete our Volunteer Interest Form prior to attending.
VOLUNTEERING
We had a super response to our call-out for volunteers last month. Thank you to everyone who has been in contact with us offering your time and expertise. It is wonderful to know what a generous, skilled and supportive community we will be introducing the family to.
Our priorities now are:
to ensure that we have a full complement of volunteers to support the family in their first weeks and months here in Camden; and
to offer our volunteers all the support and training they will need to prepare for their important role in welcoming and resettling the family.
We still have roles to fill in our Family Support Team and would love to have a conversation with anyone who is interested.
Learn more about volunteering with Friendly Welcome: more detail on the Volunteer Roles and Register your interest.
PREPARATION WORKSHOPS
We will have series of Volunteer Preparation Workshops taking place during September. Most of these will be small group sessions in Camden.
Topics covered in these sessions will include:
What it means to be a refugee and what it means to be a volunteer
Expectations of volunteers and family members
Safeguarding, safe practices and volunteer self care
Empowering people to live independent lives
Working with interpreters
Health, education, language and employment needs of refugees
Getting to know the local area
Cultural awareness
Dealing with emergencies
Goal planning with family members
We will do our very best to schedule the workshops to suit the availability and schedules of our volunteers.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
August 25th : Get to Know Us - Zoom session for new volunteers (details above or click here to register)
September 10th : Workshops - Volunteer Preparation Workshops commence
October 2nd : A Mornington Crescent Meander - Hugh Dennis (our Accommodation Lead) will be taking us on a Mornington Crescent Meander on Sunday 2 October. Hugh regularly leads guided walking tours in and around London and his walks are always entertaining and informative. Further details are here. This is a fundraising event and we are asking for a donation of just £10 per person. To grab your spot please drop us an email or let us know using our Contact Us form.
October 29th: Concert - An evening of Klezmer and Balkan music with world famous award-winning band SHE’ KOYOKH
A small joyful event in aid of Friendly Welcome and Refugee Tales. Organised and hosted by one of our wonderful volunteers. Vegan food and tea and coffee available. BYOB. From 7pm-10pm at Hall of St Paul’s Church, Camden Square, NW1 9XG. Tickets are £15 and are available here