The Newcastle Network’s February Encounter will find out about a Tyneside response to one of the biggest issues of our times. Hellen Giblin-Jowett FRSA and Dick Curran work as volunteers helping a refugee family to come and resettle in the North through 'Community Sponsorship'.
The idea is simple - a small band of friends club together over 2-3 years to: raise money, find accommodation, meet a refugee family at the airport, arrange English classes, organise registration with the doctor and introduce work experience.
Many of these families have been displaced by the Syrian conflict. Others come from Afghanistan. Community Sponsorship offers a safe and legal way for refugee families to come to the UK. What really appeals to the Tyneside group, however, is that each and every migrant family which arrives in the country through the Community Sponsorship programme is in addition to the official Home Office numbers.
Join us to hear about the pleasures, the pains and the pitfalls of Community Sponsorship. It’s just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is only made out of drops…
About the speakers
Dick is a novelist, playwright and Independent Editor. He is also Secretary for the local Amnesty International group.
Hellen is a part-time architectural admin, and a weekly volunteer at the Amnesty second-hand bookshop in Newcastle. She loves the RSA because "its mission combines Heart and Head to build a brighter future for all"!
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