Tuesday, December 14, 2010
STAR’s Autumn Story
It’s been a busy autumn with STAR groups across the UK raising awareness, volunteering locally, fundraising and campaigning for refugees. Here is a snapshot to get a flavour of what the network has been up to…
Telling it like it is
Expert speakers from organisations such as Medical Foundation were invited to Hull, Sheffield, Newcastle and Nottingham among many others and Bristol held a “Positive Images” workshop with the Red Cross.
Many groups, including LSE, Durham, Warwick, and London Met invited representatives from STAR National to hold introductory talks about refugees.
Students at Southampton, Manchester, Warwick, Leeds, Glasgow and Cardiff have been watching films such as ‘In This World’ and documentaries on destitution.
Cambridge ran workshops at local schools to help teach young people about refugees at Citizenship days and LSE organised an amazing conference on indefinite detention with over 100 students.
Liverpool held a quiz, Glasgow published an article and Leeds helped launch the new Leeds City of Sanctuary movement!
Volunteering
St Georges, Southampton, KCL, Barts, Bristol and Warwick are supporting refugee children and young people with their education through mentoring, classroom support and homework clubs, making sure there is also time for fun stuff too of course!
Oxford run a weekly sports group for young people, Liverpool support a women’s social group and Glasgow are organising regular socials so STAR members and young refugees can get together and enjoy themselves.
Leeds collected loads of old bikes and after being awarded £850 funding they are starting a bike loan project for refugees.
Getting to grips with English can be really hard if you are new to the UK but STAR groups all over the country, like Leeds, Cardiff, Liverpool, Sheffield and Nottingham, are doing their bit to help by running English conversation classes.
Plus this term Manchester teamed up with Refugee Action to set up a new class for recently arrived refugees and Bradford are getting one started for mums at a local primary school.
When the temperature drops this time of year it’s important to support refugees who are destitute and Warwick, Glasgow and Manchester are doing what they can to help by volunteering at night shelters and providing food.
Essex and Bristol are volunteering in refugee drop in centres and UWE have helped to get a new Migrants Rights Centre set up in Bristol!
Give us your money…. please
Some much needed cash was raised: Southampton held a RAG event, while Cardiff and Sheffield found a tasty way to raise some funds by baking and selling cakes.
Newcastle wrapped up the term with a cosy stocking-filler evening and encouraged students to bring along small gifts for refugees and asylum seekers.
Leeds organised a clothes auction and a cookery book sale. Manchester and Cardiff held music nights while Glasgow organised a sleepout and had people disguised as Theresa May in a Masquerade Ball!
Campaigning for change
We had some innovative campaigning for Equal Access, with giant painted petitions at Leeds, film-making at Bristol and lobbying at Durham and Cambridge.
Students in Manchester, Bradford and Sheffield continued campaigning locally to support individual asylum seekers.
Our brand new and shiny group UWE Bristol got students to contact MPs and write letters to detainees.
And a whole bunch of you have been working hard to get hundreds of action cards signed for the Right to Work!
Posted by STAR team on 14/12/2010 at 05:52 PM
in Group News
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