Thursday, July 08, 2010
Warwick STAR’s Joyce shares her experiences of campaigning and volunteering
From ‘sleep-outs’ to direct refugee assistance, Joyce explains the activities and achievements of Warwick STAR in the last academic year when she was on the committee.
By Joyce Wong (Warwick STAR 08-10)
Warwick STAR has always been a relatively small but effective and participatory society. This was one of the main reasons why I first got involved.
We have a tradition of working closely with the STAR national office, other societies and refugee organisations. In 2009-10 we continued this tradition and have undertaken a range of amazing things on campus and with the refugee community in Coventry.
We kick-started the year with the introductory workshop on refugees and asylum issues conducted by James from the national office. Throughout the year, we continued to raise awareness about refugee issues by organising a variety of events.
Creative Campaigning
In January, we held an informative event with a speaker from CARA followed by a heated debate hosted by the Warwick Debating Society on STAR’s Equal Access campaign to higher education for asylum seekers. We also provided a scrumptious meal on the night to accompany the food for thought!
In February, our members and many more braved the cold and participated in our famous sleepout in the Piazza, in which participants were sponsored to stay out all night in an open plaza with nothing more than their sleeping bags,to show solidarity with destitute refugees and asylum seekers as part of Warwick Amnesty’s Protect the Human Week.
In March, we hosted a fundraiser for the annual Action Day with an amazing student volunteer live jazz band and a photo exhibition “A Day in the Life of an Asylum Seeker” with contributions from Warwick students (including myself!) about refugees in Coventry. We raised almost £100 for the Coventry Peace House!
We also invited Project Ayuda to put up a stall to sell ethical jewellery made by internally displaced women in Colombia – showing solidarity with refugees all around the world!
STAR provides students with many opportunities to understand and help refugees who are often neglected and misunderstood by the public and the media in particular.. Thanks to all the concerned and kind-hearted Warwick students who turned up to STAR’s numerous events.
We have successfully collected sufficient signatures to initiate a motion in the referendum that the university should adopt policies which encourage the Equal Access campaign It will now be the new exec’s responsibility to see that this passes!
Direct refugee assistance
In addition to raising awareness and campaigning, we coordinated volunteers to support refugees in the Coventry area. At the start of the year, our dedicated volunteers and campaigns coordinators organised a visit to the Coventry Refugee Centre, which provides information and practical and legal help for refugees in the Coventry area. Members have continued to volunteer for many projects in the centre, including both the women’s and men’s groups.
As in the past, we have also promoted and arranged many Warwick students to volunteer in the night shelter at Coventry Peace House, which assists destitute asylum seekers with accommodation.
Raising awareness in schools
Towards the end of the year, we continued our relatively new tradition of organising and volunteering in the annual Cultural Day in the Westwood School secondary school nearby.
On top of language workshops and the imaginative ‘suitcase’ game (in which children put themselves in refugees’ shoes, decide what they are going to bring with them on their journey and face the harsh and repeated scrutiny of immigration officers – played by our volunteers!), we added a fashion show workshop and a refugee drama workshop. Both the children and our volunteers thoroughly enjoyed the day and we hope that we also helped the children understand the difficulties refugees and cultural minorities encounter.
Last but not least, we have of course arranged members to attend STAR’s annual conference in November!
Best wishes to the new Warwick STAR team
I would say that as a small group with a 5-member exec team, our dedication and enthusiasm helped maintain the work of past STAR groups whilst undertaking new exciting and worthwhile activities. I thoroughly enjoyed the year and I am glad that I contributed to improving the understanding of refugee and asylum issues among the student body and bettering the lives of refugees in the area.
All my best wishes to the new execs to keep up STAR’s tradition of good work!
Posted by Communications on 08/07/2010 at 01:11 PM
in Group News
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